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Medical Terminology
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| Enroll Now | Medical Terminology Training | View Course Syllabus | Tell me about: Billing, Coding, Transcription
What is Medical Terminology?
Medical Terminology is the Language of Medicine. Medical Terminology is the foundation upon which medical transcriptionists, medical coders, medical billers, medical office assistants, and of course, doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers communicate. The foundations of medical terminology (medical words) are based in Latin and Greek, so learning medical terminology requires special training.
If you are planning a career in virtually any medical field, medical terminology is a prerequisite, and while Meditec.com offers terminology as a stand-alone course module for anyone interested, we also include terminology in our Medical Transcription and Medical Coding training courses, because it is the foundation upon which these skills are built. A basic understanding of medical terminology is also needed in the medical billing and insurance claims processing fields, so we encourage our medical billing course students to include the medical terminology module as part of their overall training experience.
The process of learing medical terminology begins with word “etymology” (eh-tih-mol-ogy). It means the origin and historical development of a word. The study of languages is called linguistics. A branch of this discipline studies the origin and history of words. Let’s start with English. If you look up English in the dictionary, you will find that one definition is: The Germanic language of the people of the United States and Britain. Does that mean that those who speak English are in reality speaking German? No, not precisely. The English language is a composite mixture of the Germanic language, which includes those spoken in Scandinavian countries, and all of them have elements that evolved from Latin and Greek.
The fact that medical terms are based on Greek and Latin makes them logical, more difficult to complicate. Here in the U.S., we have Anglicized some of the Latin/Greek words, like changing haematology to hematology, or orthopaedic to orthopedic. We can take apart most medical words to discover what they mean, and we also can combine them to form long words, like choledochocystojejunostomy, for instance.
Of course, the use of proper spelling and grammar are also essential skills, and Meditec also offers an English Grammar Course module in addition to Medical Terminology. As with terminology, our medical transcription course includes the basics of grammar, but for those who are interested in terminology only, adding the English Grammar module is highly recommended.
Medical Coding and Medical Billing go virtually hand-in-hand within the doctor's office, and many medical transcriptionists soon discover that cross-training is extremely helpful, but a firm foundation in medical terminology is essential for all of these cross-training skills. E.g. Learning medical terminology for the purpose of becoming a medical transcriptionist, also becomes a benefit for those who want to learn Medical Coding, and understanding the coding process then becomes a benefit for those who go into the medical billing process. Medical Transcription, Coding, and Billing then, become the basis of an overall a triangle of skills -- the triangle being the strongest of all foundations -- that provide for the entire back-office process in any medical professional office.
Meditec.com has been in the Medical Billing, Coding, and Transcription business since 1969, and was one of the very first companies in the United States to begin offering it's medical office training courses via the Internet. Students can take our medical terminology course on-line, when enrolling in our medical transcription or medical coding courses, or they can take the medical terminology course (book course only) as a stand-alone module. Whether part of a more extensive course or taken alone, students take their course from the comfort of their own homes, and receive the same (if not better) training than they might find in a traditional trade school.
Unlike becoming a doctor or lawyer, becoming a medical office specialist does not require an advanced college degree, nor does it require an enormous investment of capital to get started in practice. Meditec.com has more than 35 years of experience in the medical transcription, coding, and billing business -- we know how to train you, and we know how to help you achieve your goals.
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