Medical Terminology Foundations

Decode medical terms by mastering prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms, and learn how root words build meaning, along with spelling, plurals, and eponyms like bradycardia and Lou Gehrig's disease.

Explore diagnosis and prognosis, and distinguish signs from symptoms in acute and chronic conditions. Review examination basics, including inspection, palpation, percussion, auscultation, and modalities from X-ray to MRI and ultrasound.

Explore body structure and tissues—epithelial, connective, muscular, and nervous—plus homeostasis and basic blood components to ground medical terminology.

Explore the musculoskeletal system, including bones and muscles, the axial and appendicular skeleton, joints and ligaments, cartilage, and common injuries like sprains, strains, and arthritis.

Investigate the nervous system's central and peripheral divisions, brain and spinal cord structure, neuron and glial roles, autonomic regulation, brain regions, and major disorders from stroke to Parkinson's disease.

Explore the circulatory and lymphatic systems, detailing heart chambers, vessels, valves, gas exchange with the lungs, and conditions like hypertension, atherosclerosis, stroke, and lymphedema.

Explore the respiratory system from upper airways to alveoli, detailing ventilation, respiration, gas exchange at the alveoli, normal breathing rates, and common conditions like copd, pneumonia, and atelectasis.

Explore the digestive system from ingestion to elimination, detailing digestion, absorption in the GI tract, metabolism, and nutrient use (carbohydrates, fats, proteins), plus key organs and procedures.

Explore how the urinary system filters blood in the kidneys to remove waste, regulate pH, electrolyte balance, and support urination, then stores and eliminates urine via ureters, bladder, and urethra.

Explore how the nervous system directs endocrine secretions to regulate homeostasis. Distinguish endocrine from exocrine glands, note master pituitary, and see how hormones travel via bloodstream to target organs.