Medical Terminology was what I expected it to be – hard. Every day it seemed we were on to a new chapter. Along with learning new terms we also had to start learning the systems to go with it (digestive, lymphatic, nerve, etc…). The course started out relatively easy, learning the basic prefixes, suffixes, and root words…. But by the sixth chapter it was getting quite challenging. At the very end (chapter twenty-two) it seemed like we had learned an entirely new language, because, well we did. Trying to learn a new language in a short time is a struggle so I’m not going to lie to you and say this is a good time to take your sick days – because it is not. This unit came as a shock after the previous unit was a walk in the park. Luckily, this is also a very interesting chapter! It was neat to see how the body reacts to being sick, what different immunizations do, as well as how the body works as a whole. My favorite chapter was probably the lymphatic system or psychology. This unit every chapter we had a spelling test. Although I am not a fan of tests, they were helpful because it made us remember random terms. Medical Terminology can actually be quite easy once you learn how to break down the words. Such as “-ic” meaning pertaining to, “a-” meaning without, or “gastr/o” meaning stomach.
Along with spelling test we also had a disease project. We could pick any disease to study and make a power point of and present it to the class. Everyone had a different presentation so it was actually quite interesting. As well as assignments we also had… exams. Three of them. And they were HARD. It was a good thing we had a teacher who had been experienced in the medical field. Sonia made sure everyone in the class passed all three of our exams. Again, do not slack on studying. Although I was prepared and given the right material to study, I will say they were not what I expected. The first exam was rather easy just because the first few chapters are basic and focus really only on medical terminology, but the second and third exams are difficult and require you to know much more. I would advise reading your text book every night once you get into the fifth and sixth chapters.
As interesting as medical terminology was I can quite honestly say I am happy I don’t have to lug around the huge textbook to class every day! Today we are starting communications which is only two weeks. I am hoping it will be a bit of a break from the non-stop studying!
Well, until next time!
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