A six (6) Word Medical Terminology List Everyone Needs to Know Part 1
Some people think that a medical terminology list would only be useful for those planning to work in the healthcare field. Of course, medical terminology is a fundamental skill for every healthcare worker. However, I am going to provide a medical terminology list so important and so vital to every adult whether they work in Health Care or not. Most amazingly, it consists of only six (6) words!
For those of you going into the healthcare field, this medical terminology list of six words is one of the most fundamental and most difficult for students to really know and understand.
For those of you lay people not currently in the healthcare field or planning to go into the healthcare field, knowing this six word medical terminology list could dramatically improve your Health Care and your life.
As health care continues to change, there will be more reliance on technology. Help from health professionals will be partially online and Medical records will be completely electronic. In this new health technology environment how will you describe the position of symptoms, pains, and ailments? Not much else matters if you can’t describe “where it hurts” to someone that may be miles away from you?
This is why the most fundamental six word medical terminology list involves the six medical terms for position: Medial; Lateral; Proximal; Distal; Superior; Inferior.
Before any health professional can help you, you need to be able to tell them what your problems or symptoms are and where they are. As a layperson, no one expects you to be able to diagnose yourself; that is what the medical professional is for. However, the better you are able to describe the type and location of your problems or symptoms the better the health professional will be able to help you. Now, if you’re in the office or a medical facility face to face with a Doctor, you can simply point to where it hurts. No other description as to a location is necessary. But, what if you are NOT face to face with the Doctor; how would you let him or her know where it hurts. As I mentioned before, the increasing use of technology in healthcare will make it more and more likely that you will need to describe the location of your problem without being face to face with your Doctor.
As a Doctor myself, I cannot tell you how difficult it is to have a patient describe to me over the phone or online where they are having the trouble. The more specific the area the more trouble they have describing it. It’s not their fault; they just don’t have the vocabulary to do it. Because of that, it makes diagnosis very difficult and the use of technology or even a telephone virtually useless.
In the next part of this article, we’re going to describe and tackle the first two terms medial and lateral. It’s only six terms you need to know. I will walk you through them. By the time we’re done you will be able to describe positions like a pro. We start in Part 2
