Medical Terminology

Doctors have spent a lot of time studying. We have undergraduate degrees, a medical degree, a completed residency program, then sometimes additional fellowship programs to specialize. During this rigorous journey, most of us are completely immersed in the study of medicine and surrounded by like-minded students. We get used to discussing medicine in clinical terms and become fluent in what could be considered a different language presented in the objective clinical environment of science. That world becomes such a habit that we sometimes forget that not everyone is medical too. Below are some common medical terms that may be helpful when we lapse into doctor speak.

Organ Systems

• Neuro – nervous system including brain (cerebro-/encephalo-), spine and nerves
• Cardiovascular – heart and blood vessels (angio)
• Pulmonary – lung
• Hematology – blood ; wbc (leuko-), RBC (hema-), platelet (thrombo-)
• Oncology – cancer (carcino-)
• Otolaryngology (ENT) – ears, nose and throat
• Renal – kidney
• Urological – bladder, prostate,
• Gastroenterology (GI) – digestive system from entry to exit
• Dermatology – skin
• Endocrine – hormones and glands
• Ophthalmology – eye
• Orthopedic – bones (osteo), muscle (myo), joints (arthr)

Descriptors

• gross – overall; big picture
• obesity, morbid and otherwise – calculated based on body mass index which is equation using height and weight
• edema -swelling
• digit – finger or toe
• benign – not cancerous or will not impact health
• malignant – cancerous
• sepsis – infection causing a systemic reaction and often involving multiple organ systems
• chief complaint – primary concern of patient

Prefix

• hypo – low
• Hyper – high
• post – after
• pre – before
• dys – pain, abnormal, difficult
• micro – small
• macro – large
• poly – many

Suffix

• -itis – inflammation of
• -osis – presence of
• -ology – study of
• -uria – in the urine
• emia – in the blood
• -penia – small amount or thinning
• -cytosis – presence of cell
• -algia – pain of
• -ectomy – removal of
• -lysis – breakdown, destruction

Abbreviations

• prn – as needed
• DVT – deep vein thrombosis – blood clot
• TIA – Transient Ischemic Attack – “mini-stroke” lasting < 24 hour
• CVA – Stroke – blocked blood flow to brain
• NPO – nothing by mouth (fasting as in before surgery)
• UTI – Urinary Tract Infection
• LOC – loss of consciousness
• ad lib – at liberty/as tolerated (often pertaining to diet or activity)
• cc (cubic centimeter) which is same amount as ml (milliliter)
• DC – discharge or discontinue
• EtOH – alcohol
• hs – bedtime
• s/p – status post (completed)
• Fx – fracture

This list covers some of the basics, but clearly not all. I threw this together and anticipate modifying it in the future. If there are any words that I can assist with, please let me know.

Every act of communication is a miracle of translation. -Ken Lui