Welcome to the fascinating study of medical terminology—a vital part of your preparation for a career as a health professional. I am glad that you have joined us. Throughout your career, in a variety of settings, you will use medical terminology to communicate with coworkers and patients. Employing this carefully constructed learning system, The Basics of Medical Terminology will help readers gain a successful grasp of medical language within a real-world context.
In developing this book I had five goals in mind:
To provide a clear introduction to the basic rules of using word parts to form medical terms.
To help you understand medical terminology within the context of the human body systems. Realizing that this book is designed for a terminology course and not an anatomy and physiology course, I have aimed to stick to only the basics.
To help you develop a full range of Latin and Greek word parts used to build medical terms so that you will be able to interpret unfamiliar terms you encounter in the future.
To help you visualize medical language with an abundance of accurate illustrations.
To provide you with a wealth of practice applications at the end of each chapter to help you review and master the content as you go along.
Robert E. Fanger is an Associate Professor of Health Occupations and the Program Manager for the Long Term Care Administration Program at Del Mar College. He has taught basic health professional skill; medical terminology; financial management in the long-term care, long-term care law; and environmental elements courses. Having served over 30 years in the US Navy in the medical field, Mr. Fanger has taught health science courses as well as clinical topics in the military schoolhouse. He has served in many bases around the world in the healthcare field, including hospitals, clinics, ships, and forward deployed units.
Mr. Fanger holds a bachelor’s degree in healthcare management from Southern Illinois University as well as a master’s degree in education for Capella University.
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: Organization of the Body
Chapter 3: Integumentary System
Chapter 4: Musculoskeletal System
Chapter 5: Cardiovascular System
Chapter 6: Blood, Lymphatic, and Immune Systems
Chapter 7: Respiratory Systems
Chapter 8: Digestive System
Chapter 9: Urinary System
Chapter 10: Reproductive System
Chapter 11: Endocrine System
Chapter 12: Nervous System
Chapter 13: Eye and Ear
Chapter 14: Special Topics