Medical Terminologies: Foundations

Explore the organization of the human body from atoms and molecules to the organism, focusing on cells, tissues, organs, organ systems, and key word parts like cyto and histo.

Learn the anatomical position as a reference and the planes: median (midsagittal), frontal (coronal), transverse (axial). Explore directional terms, anterior, posterior, superior, inferior, medial, lateral, proximal, distal, superficial, and deep.

Explore prefixes, roots, and suffixes for lesson two, including endo, exo, adeno, adipo, cyto, histo, patho, and homeostasis, with examples of terms and anatomical directions.

Explore Greek and Latin medical terminology for bodily regions—from cranial to calcaneal—and link anatomical names to clinical practice.

Explore the body cavities and abdominal regions, including ventral and dorsal cavities, the thoracic, abdominal, pelvic divisions, and the four-quadrant and nine-region schemes.

Explore general pathological terms and disease concepts by learning word roots, suffixes like pathy, and terms such as biopsy and etiology, then examine endemic, epidemic, and pandemic outbreaks with epidemiology.

Explore the integumentary system beyond the skin, including hair, nails, sebaceous and sweat glands, and the epidermis-dermis-hypodermis layers, with emphasis on protection, touch, heat regulation, and vitamin D synthesis.

Explore common cutaneous pathologies such as skin lesions, acne, psoriasis, and Raynaud's phenomenon, and learn key clinical terms and treatment concepts for the integumentary system.

Explores benign and malignant neoplasms of the skin, including basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and malignant melanoma, their metastasis risk, and treatment options such as surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy.

Explore the integumentary word parts, including skin roots such as cutaneous and subcutaneous, and terms like dermatitis, hidradenitis, keratosis, xeroderma, lipoma, and scleroderma.

Explore the myth of psyche and how the term psychology originated from the study of the soul, linking psyche to the goddess of the soul and early studies of behavior.

Explore how the respiratory system supplies oxygen, removes carbon dioxide, and enables speech, detailing anatomy from the nose and pharynx to alveoli, bronchioles, and pleural membranes.

Explore five respiratory pathologies—COPD, asthma, pneumonia, pleural effusion, and pneumothorax—and their diagnosis, treatment, and common abbreviations, including COPD, China, Sabah, IX, summer, and SOP.

Explore common respiratory word parts such as bronco, laryngeal, nasal, oxy, pharyngeal, and thoraco, and their terms like bronchitis, laryngoscopy, nasal spray, oximeter, pneumothorax, thoracostomy, tracheostomy, and sleep apnea.

Explore how Hygeia, goddess of hygiene, inspired the term hygiene through the myth of Asclepius, whose healing legacy led to the Rod of Asclepius as a medical symbol.

Explore how the cardiovascular system pumps blood, delivers oxygen and nutrients, removes wastes, and enables immunity and endocrine transport through heart chambers, vessels, and valves.

Explore coronary artery disease, heart failure, cardiomyopathies, and congenital heart disease. Learn key terms for angina, myocardial infarction, cardiomegaly, and common congenital abbreviations.

Explore the skeletal system's basic anatomy and physiology, along with pathologies and diagnostic and treatment terms. Learn the word parts and explore origins of terminology in Greek and Roman mythologies.

Explore the anatomy and physiology of the skeletal system, focusing on bones, joints, ligaments, cartilage, and tendons, and distinguish axial and appendicular skeleton structures.

Explore bone and joint word parts in the skeletal system, including roots such as osteo and myelo, and terms like arthrodesis, synovectomy, chondroma, cranial stenosis, scoliosis, kyphosis, lordosis, and ankylosis.

Trace the origin of the word giant in ancient Greek mythology and how gigantism, derived from that term, involves pituitary hyperactivity and growth hormone affecting growth plates to yield stature.

Explore the muscular system, its roles in posture, movement, heat production, and blood and lymph flow, and learn the basics of skeletal, smooth, and cardiac muscles.

Explore key skeletal muscles, learn origin and insertion, naming rules by action, location, fiber direction, and head count, with examples like biceps brachii, deltoid, and rectus abdominis.

Explore muscular system word parts, including bi and tri prefixes, myo and fascia roots, and suffixes such as -itis and -plegia, with examples like biceps brachii and plantar fasciitis.

Traces the myth of Phobos and explains the origin of phobia and phobic in modern science, then connects to hydrophobic lipids forming the phospholipid bilayer of cell membranes.