Customer Reviews

Quick Medical Terminology: A Self-Teaching Guide, 4th edition

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Before starting a class at the local technical college, I used this book as a guide to find out if I could go back to school after 30 years. It was great - easy to understand and much better than the textbook we use in class. Highly recommended.

A nurse I worked with recommended this book to me and told me it would give me a great foundation for the world of medical jargon. It was very helpful and well-designed programmed learning that really gave me a head start in med school.

Being new to the field of medical transcription, this book did a great job of exposing me to how words are constructed. It breaks them down and helped me to learn the impressive vocabulary that's required. It's been a wonderful asset!!

This is a great book for learning basic terminology. It helps you to be able to break words down and understand them. Lots of opportunity for review. This book was very helpful to me.

I looked at a number of medical terminology books at the library before deciding to purchase Quick Medical Terminology: A Self-Teaching Guide, 4th edition. This book truly is great for people who need to learn medical terminology quickly. It also teaches a little about body systems. The author keeps the book interesting and makes learning medical terminology fun.

If find this to be a good quick reference to terminology. I would recommend this as a basic overview of medical terminology.

The only medical terms I knew, before I got this book, were from "House" the Tv show. I didn't even understand much of it then. I can't wait to go back and watch it over and understand what they are saying.

This book is very useful in learning helpful medical terminology. It is easy to use and has helpful quizes at the end of each chapter.

Good book for beginners...I am a nurse and my daughter is starting school for her Associate towards her nursing degree...good book.

First, the good:

I like how the words are broken up into their roots, combining vowels, and endings (for example, acr/o/dermat/itis), so you can see how exactly the word is constructed, and why it means what it does; it's all very logical. Sure, I could break down the words in my head, but it's helpful for me to actually see it on paper. At the very least, it may encourage the student to try to break down words him- or herself, instead of jumping immediately to the dictionary every time he/she comes across something foreign.

The pronunciation is usually intuitive to me just by looking at the spelling, but for those who want one, there is a pronunciation guide for each word as it is presented.

I also appreciate the slightly more in-depth explanations. The book tells you that dermat = skin and tome = an instrument which cuts, so you know that dermatome = an instrument which cuts skin. The book adds an extra blurb that, "When a physician wants a thin slice of a patient's skin for a skin graft, the doctor asks for a DERMATOME." It makes the drills more entertaining and productive, giving you real-life applications and "why you should care" explanations for these words.

Now, the bad:

The book's cover says, "EXPAND your working medical vocabulary," so I thought it was geared towards readers who already have a decent medical vocabulary. This is not the case. My experience in the health care field is very limited (I volunteer at a hospital, where I spend a lot of time... *drumroll*... cleaning beds), and I consider my medical vocabulary even more so, yet I thought there was some really redundant and basic information. People who have more extensive experience may not have the patience for this. Indeed, some of the material presented is self-explanatory to the layperson (anti = against; manifestation = evidence; lip/o = fat; cyan/o/derm/a = blue skin); if you have had cancer, you know leuk/o/cyte = white blood cell; and if you have taken a biology class, you know chlor/o = green (as in "chlorophyll").

This book also stresses repetition a lot, but not in a manner which I find helpful. These are like the drills that you do in elementary school, with the question being rephrased and asked over and over again. I also get confused and wonder if it's a trick question, because they give the answer in the question.

For example, some actual questions in the exact order in which they appear, without omitting anything in between (the answers are capitalized):

+++++

1. Acr/o means extremities (arms, legs, and the head). To refer to one or more extremities physicians use words containing ACR/O.

2. Extremities are the parts of the body farthest from the center of the body. You could say these parts are located on the extreme ends of the main body. What parts are they? ARMS, LEGS, AND HEAD.

3. Extremities in the human body are also known as limbs. When referring to the arms or legs we use the word acr/o. What term could designate the head as an extremitiy? ACR, ACR/O.

4. When you read a term containing acr or acr/o (the combining form), it should make you think of EXTREMITIES OR LIMBS.

5. Each of the terms acr/o/megaly, acr/o/cyan/osis, and acr/o/dermat/itis has a common word root that refer to what parts of the body? ARMS, LEGS, AND HEAD. Write the combining form of the word root meaning extremities. ACR/O.

+++++

Granted, this was at the beginning of the book, but halfway through, on a 2-page spread containing 14 questions, "systemic" is the answer 3 times, and "palliative," "prophylactic," and "life-threatening" 2 times each. And once again, the questions halfway through the book continue to ask:

+++++

16. Neo- means new; -plasm means thing formed. Neoplasm is a new formation of tissue. It is abnormal because it serves no useful function and grows at the expense of a healthy body. Any tissue growing autonomously and that has no useful function is a NEOPLASM.

17. A tumor is a swelling or enlargement. It is an autonomous new growth of tissue. It is a mass of tissue without a function. Another word for tumor is NEOPLASM.

18. Neoplasm and tumor are interchangeable terms. They both mean an autonomous new GROWTH OF TISSUE THAT SERVES NO USEFUL PURPOSE.

+++++

This is basically a set of flashcards in book form, with the terms on the left-hand side of the page and the definitions on the right-hand side, only the terms and definitions are repeated many times in slightly different forms.

Some people may appreciate this. I, however, find this too repetitive. I prefer my primary study reference materials to be streamlined, weighted differently based on importance, and more rigidly organized. I like learning concepts separately from learning individual details with drills and examples. I think that flash card and workbook review is the responsibility of the student, not of a primary study resource.

Also, in review sections, the book has a tendency to give you the medical term first and ask you what it means, then go over that information a second time, giving you the definition and asking you what the medical term is. If you follow this order, it's more difficult to tell how much new medical terminology you've learned and retained, as opposed to what you merely recognize. I don't like this so much, as I prefer to know exactly what I understand and exactly what I don't.

I've criticized this book a lot, but I know what works for me and what doesn't. I prefer to study smart rather than hard, and yes, I can be picky about the resources I use, especially since I'm a busy person with other obligations.

Bottom line: If you like repetition, drills, and some hand-holding, this may be for you. If you prefer a reference-type study aid, and you just want to get in and get out with the information that you need, this may contain too much filler for you. In either case, it will teach you stuff, as pretty much all books will if you pick something appropriate for your level of expertise, but there may be better books out there for your particular learning style. For value of time spent for the STATED PURPOSE of this book given my own learning style, I give it 2.5 stars (rounded up in Amazon), as I'm sure there are more streamlined resources out there which gave the same essential information.

A final note: Since I have limited experience in the health care field, I can't say how complete (or, I suppose, accurate) this book is.