HLT37215

Certificate III in Pathology Collection

BSBMED301:
Interpret and apply medical terminology
appropriately
 What is Medical Terminology?

 A special vocabulary used by healthcare professionals

 Words made up of scientific and technical terms
 To assist those in a healthcare environment to speak
and write in a precise manner
 Often derived from Latin and Greek words

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Objectives

 Name and identify components of medical words.

 Split medical words into their components.
 Build medical words using word components.

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The components of medical words

 Prefixes
 Roots
 Suffixes
 Combining Vowels
 Combining Forms

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 Key points

 To determine the meaning of a medical term start with

the ‘suffix’
 Then the ‘prefix’
 Then identify the meaning of the word root or roots last

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 Example of a medical term

Laryngopharyngitis
 itis always means inflammation

 laryng/o refers to the larynx or voice box

 pharyng/o refers to the throat or pharynx

Laryngopharyngitis is the inflammation of the pharynx or

larynx (upper respiratory tract) with symptoms of sore throat
or loss of voice.

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Word roots: establishes the basic meaning of
the medical term

A word root typically indicates

 Tissue

 Organ

 Body system

 Structure

 Condition

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Root Word examples

 Phleb – vein Phlebotomy

 Aer – air Aerobic
 Ceph – head Cephalic
 Neph – kidney Nephritis
 Pul – lung Pulmonary
 Bronch – bronchus Bronchitis

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 Suffix “to fasten underneath or behind”

A suffix when it follows a word root it either changes or

adds something to the meaning of the word root.

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 Common Suffixes

 Ac,al – pertaining to Cardiac

 emia – blood condition Anaemia
 oma – tumor Hepatoma
 pathy – disease Cardiomyopathy
 Osis – condition Necrosis
 Tomy - cutting incision Phlebotomy

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 Prefix “to fasten before”

A prefix modifies the meaning of the word root by adding

information such as the presence or the absence.

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 Common prefixes

 A,an,ar – without Arrhythmia

 bi – two bicuspid
 brady – slow bradycardia
 micro – small microbiology
 poly – much many polyuria
 semi – half semilunar

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 Word Root, Combining Vowel and Suffix

GASTR O TOMY

COMBINING
WORD ROOT VOWEL SUFFIX
Roots are Combining The suffix follows
basic medical vowels are the word root.
words. added to word
roots to add
Root meaning pronunciation Suffix meaning
stomach and connect the incision into
root HLT37215:
to theBSBMED301
suffix.
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Meaning of Gastrotomy – incision into the stomach

 The Combining Form and Prefix

Word root + combining vowel = combining form

Gastr + o = gastro
Most combining forms end in o

EPI GASTR IC

PREFIX SUFFIX
WORD ROOT

Prefix meaning Suffix meaning

upon/above Word Root meaning
pertaining to
stomach
Meaning of Epigastric = pertaining to above
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stomach
 Rule 1: Adding a combining form to a suffix

If we add the suffixes – logy, meaning study of and –algia,

meaning condition of pain, to the combining form gastr/o we
make two new words:
gastr/o + -logy
= gastrology (study of the stomach)

gastr/o + algia
= gastralgia (condition of pain in the stomach)

(note `o’ has been dropped in gastralgia because

–algia begins with `a’, a vowel)
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 Rule 1: Adding a combining form to a suffix

Key Point
 When a root combines with a suffix, the combining vowel
is left in place if the suffix begins with a letter other than
a vowel.
Examples:
Gastr/o + -tomy =
Gastrotomy (incision into the stomach)
Gastr/o + -it is =
Gastritis (inflammation in the stomach
Gastr/o + -ectomy =
Gastrectotomy (removal of the stomach)
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Rule 2:Combining two word roots

GASTR/O ENTER/O LOGY

Combining Combining Suffix

form of word form of meaning
root meaning word root study of
stomach meaning
intestine
The full meaning of gastroenterology is the study of
the intestines and the stomach

Key Point – When two roots are combined, the combining vowel
is kept. HLT37215: BSBMED301 (USB) 17
Rule 3: Adding a Prefix to a Root

Key Point
 When a prefix that ends in a vowel is added to a root that
begins with a vowel or `h’, the vowel of the prefix is
dropped.
Example:
Anti + acid = antacid
Prefix meaning Root meaning
against acid
antacid – a drug used to neutralise stomach acid
(note: this is not a strict rule e.g. periosteitis)

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 Reading and understanding medical words

Split the word into its components endo-, gastr/o,

-it is, etc
Then:
Think of or look up the meaning of the components.
Finally:
Read the meaning of the word beginning with the suffix and
reading backwards:
e.g. gastr/o³, enter/o², -ology¹
1 study of
2 the intestines
3 the stomach
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Examples

hypertonic quadra plegia

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓
High tone 4 paralysis
……………………………………………….
Pol/io myl/ itis
↓ ↓ ↓
many muscle infection

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Abbreviations

 Abbreviations are commonplace in a Healthcare

environment.
 What are some that you are aware of already?

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Abbreviations-common

 RBB-random blood glucose

 ECG- electrocardiogram
 LFT- liver function test
 FBE- full blood examination
 BD- twice a day
 SOB- short of breath
 Tx- treatment
 Keep a note book of all new abbreviations and tests

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 What resources can assist?

 Medical/Nurses Dictionaries
 Online dictionaries
 Colleagues
 Supervisor
 Doctors
 Lab staff
 Internal computer programs (intranet)

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 Chemical Abbreviations relevant to Pathology
Collection

A pathology report is filled with numerous terms and phrases

that may lead to a mad scramble for a medical dictionary.
Although all terms cannot be covered some may be found by
looking up the following internet address:
http://www.thedoctorsdoctor.com/pathreports/commonly_us
ed_terms.htm#cytoplasm

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 Checklists

Checklists are very common in a Pathology environment

 Checklists assist to ensure all tasks are complete

 They assist with time management

 They assist with delegation of tasks to team members

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 Checklists

 What tasks in a Pathology Environment would a

checklist be useful for?
 Do you use checklists at your current employment or at
home? What for?
 Do you think a checklist would assist in following policies
and procedures?
 How?

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