Examine the way medical terms are built and how each term can be broken down into components that correspond to their Greek and Latin etymology. As noted on The Classical World in Medical Terminology (sites.la.utexas.edu/medterms/), the root is the base of the term, the prefix is an attachment in front of a root to refine the meaning, and the suffix is an attachment after a root that refines the meaning (see Reference 2). Medical terms also consist of combining forms; vowels "i" and "o," are generally located before the word root. Medical terms contain two or more components.
Create flashcards with word roots, prefixes and suffixes on one side and their definition on the other. Start by using popular prefixes like: anti (against), apo (upon), brady (slow), contra (against), dia (thorough/complete), dys (difficult/ painful/abnormal), en (within), hyper (above; excessive), hypo (below; incomplete; deficient), myo (muscle) and tachy (fast; rapid). Roots like: acou (hear), adeno (gland), angio (vessel), cardi (heart), cyto (cell), derm (skin), gastr (stomach), hem (blood), myo (muscle), neuro (nerve), ost (bone), patho (disease), rhino (nose), trophy (grow), and veno (vein), and suffixes such as ac (pertaining to), emia (blood condition), itis (inflammation), ology (study of), pathy (disease), pepsia (digestion), plasty (plastic or surgical repair) and plegia (paralysis).
Draw a little picture or symbol on the index cards help you memorize the meaning. For example, an arrow pointing upward for "hyper," an arrow pointing downward for "hypo," a heart for "cardi" and a book for "ology". You can also mark each component with a different color pencil (prefixes red, roots blue and suffixes green).
Divide your index cards into three piles; prefixes, roots and suffixes (definition side face down). Pick up one card from each of the piles to construct a medical term.
Extract a new card from each pile to show how the terms are constructed. You may want to begin by just switching out the prefix and suffix cards and sticking with the same root word until you get the hang of it. For example, take the root word "cardio," the prefix "peri" and the suffix "itis"; this forms the medical term "pericarditis." Change the prefix to "myo" and you'll have the term "myocarditis." Along those same lines, drop the prefixes and add different suffixes. Sticking with the rood word "cardio," add the suffix "ologist," or "megaly" to form the words "cardiologist" and "cardiomegaly."
Look at posters of the human body to become familiar with anatomy (parts of the body) and physiology (how the structures of the body function).
Learn the different groups of systems that the body is organized into, including the digestive system, endocrine system, lymphatic/immune system, muscular system, nervous system, reproductive system, respiratory system, skeletal system and urinary/excretory system.
On labels, write down the name of a systems and its major parts or organs. For example, labels for the endocrine system would include adrenal glands, hypothalamus, pancreas and thyroid (see Resource 1).
Use a poster of the human body (that doesn't name each organ/system) and try to post the correct labels on the parts you can identify. If you don't have a ready-made poster, print one from an Internet site or draw your own.
Repeat this exercise to familiarize yourself with the human body and then grab the deck of flashcards you made in the previous section. Review the cards and see if you can locate the area of the body that the medical term pertains to.