Online education and distance learning are still relatively new concepts. While many higher education programs have successfully transitioned online, complex programs—especially in the health sciences, which require extensive in-person and hands-on learning—pose a more significant challenge.
Educators need the right tools and teaching methods to successfully bring health sciences programs online. This involves choosing a curriculum that integrates technology to support interactive methods, making it possible to adapt components of traditionally hands-on courses—like anatomy and physiology labs—into an online environment.
Here at Caduceus, we pride ourselves on adopting the latest technology to provide both educators and students with hands-on experience and tools that enhance their learning overall despite not being in a physical classroom. From 3D anatomical models to digital flashcards—as well as resources and guides we provide to support educators on how to maximize their use—everything you need is right here in our online health science curriculum.
Here’s what you need to know.
10 Strategies for Teaching Medical Terminology via Grouping
Grouping medical terminology is one way to help students tackle all these terms successfully. Though there are many ways to group these terms (and students should be encouraged to do what works for them), the easiest way is by body system/specialty.
Because students generally come into their health science program with some background in different body systems/specialties already, categorizing this way helps students make meaningful connections between terms they already know, terms they’re learning, and their practical applications in real-world scenarios. It also allows you, as the educator, to design lessons and evaluate students a little easier.
Here are some tips to do this:
1. Break Down Complex Terms
Teach students how to break down complex medical terms into their Latin roots. Understanding prefixes, suffixes, and root words can make it easier to decipher any unfamiliar terms they may come across. And, once they are able to identify which specific terms belong to which body system/specialty, the easier it’ll all get:
Gastroenterology:
- Gastro-: Stomach
- Entero-: Intestines
- -logy: Study of
Arthroscopy:
- Arthro-: Joint
- -scopy: To look or examine
2. Use Flashcards for Repetition
Though flash cards may be very familiar to educators, the younger generation may need to be more familiar with this study method. So, while you may have to model for them what it looks like to put the term on one side and the definition on the back, using flash cards to get through each body system/specialty at a time will allow them to pace their learning, adding to their flashcard collection as they go.
Students can work through the basics of each body system first, then add more complicated terms when they’ve mastered them. When they study, they can continue to organize it by system/specialty to make memorization easier.
Teaching online? To create digital flashcards for online courses, check out apps like Quizlet. Students and teachers can create flashcards and share them with others in the course.
3. Draw Mind Maps
Mind maps can help students visualize the connections between different terms and concepts. Creating a mind map for each body system/specialty can aid in understanding how terms are related and also present a visual for students where flashcards and other memorization techniques may not be as effective. For example, a mind map for the cardiovascular system might include:
Blood vessels in the center, then drawing out to include…
- Artery: A blood vessel that carries blood away from the heart.
- Vein: A blood vessel that carries blood toward the heart.
- Capillary: Small blood vessels where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged.
- Aorta: The main artery that carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body.
- Ventricular: Pertaining to the ventricles of the heart.
Diagnostic tests for the cardiovascular system…
- Echocardiogram: An ultrasound of the heart.
- Electrocardiogram (ECG): A test that measures the electrical activity of the heart.
- Cardiac Catheterization: A procedure used to diagnose and treat cardiovascular conditions.
- Stress Test: A test to measure the heart’s ability to respond to external stress.
Over time, students can connect these mind maps, masterminding medical terminology by taking one mind map per body system/specialty at a time.
4. Use Mnemonics and Acronyms
Mnemonics and acronyms don’t only work in math! You can also use them in your online course to help students memorize different medical terms by body system/specialty, especially when that terminology gets more complicated. If you haven’t heard of these, you’ll enjoy them:
- To remember the layers of the skin (epidermis, dermis, hypodermis), students could use the acronym “EDH.”
- For the cranial nerves, use the mnemonic “On Old Olympus’ Towering Top, A Finn And German Viewed Some Hops” to remember: Olfactory, Optic, Oculomotor, Trochlear, Trigeminal, Abducens, Facial, Auditory (Vestibulocochlear), Glossopharyngeal, Vagus, Spinal accessory, Hypoglossal.
You can also have fun with this by asking your students to create their own mnemonic devices. For example, you can assign one body system/specialty to a group, have them create them, and teach the other students.
5. Contextual Learning with Case Studies
Learning terms in context can be more effective than rote memorization. Encourage students to study medical case studies that use the terms in real-life scenarios. For example, a case study on GERD to understand its symptoms and treatment. Students can be encouraged to identify the use of terms in one case study. Or, they can create their own case study based on their fieldwork experience and see how many medical terms they used in that body system/specialty. This can be a course assignment for the whole class, who can also share it with their classmates.
6. Use Real-Life Connections
In addition to using case studies to better understand medical terminology, encourage students to relate medical terms to their experiences or familiar concepts. You could talk about genetic diseases that they are willing to share and list the medical terms associated with them. This would be great for students new to the health science program.
7. Role-Playing With Multisensory Learning
Need a case study or family history story to discuss? As an educator, you can create one by assigning a body system/specialty to different groups. Online, students can do this in a live class session or record themselves to submit as an assignment or project grade. Incorporating multiple senses into the learning process can enhance memory. Encourage students to write down terms, say them out loud, and listen to recordings of the terms being used in context.
8. Play Bingo or Jeopardy
Learning terms in context can be more effective than rote memorization. Encourage students to study medical case studies that use the terms in real-life scenarios. For example, a case study on GERD to understand its symptoms and treatment. Students can be encouraged to identify the use of terms in one case study. Or, they can create their own case study based on their fieldwork experience and see how many medical terms they used in that body system/specialty. This can be a course assignment for the whole class, who can also share it with their classmates.
9. Provide Study Sheets and Journal Ideas
Some students learn best by studying and memorization. But as their teacher, it’s up to you to guide them and make this method as approachable for them as possible. Providing study sheets with a list of the medical terms they need to learn — but organized by body/system specialty —is a great place to start. Students can then fill out each term’s definitions and example sentences.
You can also encourage students to keep a dedicated journal of medical terms to manage their studying. Reviewing this journal regularly can help reinforce learning and improve retention, and it can be their go-to book as they progress through the program and into their careers. A multi-subject journal can help separate the terms by body system/specialty.
10. Use Visual Aids
Need a case study or family history story to discuss? As an educator, you can create one by assigning a body system/specialty to different groups. Online, students can do this in a live class session or record themselves to submit as an assignment or project grade. Incorporating multiple senses into the learning process can enhance memory. Encourage students to write down terms, say them out loud, and listen to recordings of the terms being used in context.
Help Students Learn Medical Terminology Faster with Caduceus’ Medical Terminology Course
Teaching medical terminology can be as difficult as learning it. This is especially true when courses are held online. Students have to be dedicated and open-minded, while educators have to be patient and guide their students by employing a variety of techniques that can also make lesson planning and testing easier.
What if there was a way to bring all these strategies to an online format?
Caduceus’ Medical Terminology online course imparts essential principles of medical terminology in an engaging and interactive environment. Through 30 hours of web-based, audiovisual content, students familiarize themselves with various diseases, disorders, and conditions, honing the language skills critical for success in competitive medical programs and careers.
Our course offers thousands of diagrams, illustrations, and medical photos, enhancing understanding through vivid and detailed depictions of the subject matter. It also includes 1,500 medical terminology flashcards so students can learn word parts and abbreviation meanings and review them as often as needed. These flashcards, accompanied by full-color medical images, facilitate an unlimited review process, easing the learning journey for both students and educators.
