Jargon is a term that is held to mean a specific set of words and phrases that make up a miniature version of a language. No profession is replete with jargon the way the medical field is. In order to fully understand what a doctor is saying to a patient, one may need a medical dictionary or an interpreter present. Fortunately, medical terminology can be decoded with a little help.
Medical terminology is as ancient as the human experience. Throughout the years there have been many great advances in medical technology, for example bloodletting is now considered to be a harmful procedure when 200 years ago this was considered the best way to treat many maladies. Fortunately the language of medicine has evolved in the same way that treatment has evolved.
Medical terms are easy to decode if one has the tools to the core of those terms. Terminology consists of prefixes, suffixes and root words. Much like a child learns to decode a complex word during language class, adults can decipher terminology using the same technique that's used by children. Although when all else fails, the last and maybe even best resort is the medical dictionary.
The ancient nature of medical language (at least in the Western world) can be traced back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. Nearly every medical term has some basis in Greek or Latin. The reason for this is the Greeks and Romans made advances in medical treatment. It's considered acceptable to create hybrids of Greek and Latin words to create a term, however, it is frowned upon. Latin terms are grouped together, as are the Greek words.
The prefix of a medical term can denote a variety of conditions relating to the root word. Some words have simple origins, such as the term for a gland, the prefix aden(o)-, which is related to the Greek word for acorn. Other prefixes, such as the prefix ab-, simply mean not normal and have entered the normal parlance of the English language. The term abnormal uses the prefix ab- in probably the most common way.
Suffixes, just like prefixes, relate back to the root word. The Latin suffix -al simply means pertaining to. The word abdominal for example, means "relating to the abdomen." This is an example of breaking apart a word and finding that the word is far simpler than most expect. Another example of a suffix is -ase, which is a suffix that simply means enzyme.
Root words are the key to all medical terms. They usually denote the location of whatever the prefixes and suffixes are describing. An example of two different root words meaning the same thing are the Greek and Latin root words for the brain. The Greeks used the term encephal(o) while the Romans used the term cerebr(o). This is a common situation with many root words.
Anyone who plans a career in healthcare would benefit from online medical programs, in particular a terminology course. What better way to learn the basis of the language of medicine than through a free college course? Medical terminology can be frightening when it is an unknown entity. Using basic techniques of decoding words can make all of these terms less intimidating to hear and more comfortable to use.
