Medical Terminology Basic Vocab

compound word

two or more words that are joined together

etymology

the study of where words originated

medical terminology

language healthcare professionals use to communicate with eachother and their patients

terminology

set of terms, expressions, designations, or symbols that can be used to represent concepts

confidentiality

the act of keeping something private or withholding information from the public

outpatient

not requiring an overnight hospital stay

combining form

a type of word root that joins word roots

prefixes

the word part found at the beginning of a word

suffixes

the word part found at the end of a word

word roots

the basic meaning of a term

combining vowel

a word part used to connect word roots together in a single term with no vowel

electronic medical records

computerized or digital format of paper records

medical records

documents that provide an analysis of a patient's health status

paper documents

print document containing the analysis of a patient's health status over time; is usually stored in a file folder

pathologist

a person who studies the different conditions that cause disease by looking at different tissues removed from a patient

prognosis

the likely next steps in the development of a disease or course of treatment

adjectival suffixes

word parts that are used to define or describe nouns

pathology

the study of different diseases and conditions