Medical terminology is used by medical professionals to describe parts, functions and conditions of the human body. Making flash cards for medical terminology is a great way to learn the root words, suffixes and prefixes that are used on a regular basis. The more comfortable you are with what each term means, the easier it is to understand what's going on with the body and how to share that information with other medical professionals.

Use your terminology book or other reference of medical terms to create your cards. Start with either the prefixes, suffixes or root words.

Use different colored markers for each group of terms. Start with root words, and create your flash card by putting the term on one side of an index card. Write the meaning of that term on the other side of the card. For example, a card would say "ket/o" on one side, and its meaning, ketones (acetones), on the other side. Do this for each term for that group. Set them aside when finished.

Use a different colored marker for your next group of terms, again putting the term on one side and its meaning on the other. Follow the same procedure for the last group of terms using a new colored marker.

Make a group of more complex flash cards by putting together complete medical conditions on one side of an index card and their meaning on the other side. This is recommended only after you feel comfortable with defining the individual terms. For example, make a card that has "nephritis" on one side and a definition on the other, which in this case would be an inflammation of a kidney.

Shuffle the index cards together to blend all the terms together if you'd like, or keep each group separate. As you become more comfortable with defining each group, you can mix and match them to define larger medical terms.

Tip

Laminate the flash cards to keep them in better condition over a long period of time.

Related Articles

References

Tips

  • Laminate the flash cards to keep them in better condition over a long period of time.

Writer Bio

Based in Phoenix, Arizona, Shae Freeman has been freelancing professionally since 2005. Her writing specializes in health care and rare diseases. Freeman enjoys a loyal readership who follow her blogs and an online magazine she created called Urban ELITE. She is a professionally certified Emergency Medical Technician, currently working on her paramedic certification.