Welcome to the Course
This course explains its method before teaching any word parts.
Welcome to Medical Terminology Decoder.
You do not need biology, Latin, or Greek. Medical words often look enormous because several small meaning-parts have been joined together. You will learn to hear those parts.
Your goal is not to memorize every word on every card. Your goal is to recognize recurring pieces. If you hear pericarditis and can reason "around plus heart plus inflammation," you have succeeded, even if your first definition sounds awkward.
Use this three-step routine:
- Catch the ending. It often tells you what kind of problem or procedure this is.
- Find the body root.
- Add the beginning, then turn the literal pieces into natural English.
Medical words have exceptions. Treat your analysis as a strong clue, not a diagnosis.