About Medical Terms
Medical terms are used by physicians and medical professionals to describe conditions, symptoms and treatments. Hippocrates is generally acknowledged to be the father of medicine, and was the originator of the Hippocratic Oath. New doctors entering the practice of medicine still take an updated version of the Hippocratic Oath. Many medical terms are derived from Latin and Greek.
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Hippocrates and the Hippocratic Oath
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Hippocrates was born in 460 B.C.E. on the island of Cos, in Greece. He was a physician and is generally regarded as being the founder of medicine. He based his practice on the study of the human body and personal observations of his patients. From these observations he developed the belief that illness had both a rational explanation and a physical basis, rejecting common superstitions of his time that disease was the result of possession by evil spirits or disfavor by the gods.
Hippocrates wrote his oath in 400 B.C.E., and physicians today still utilize it as a pledge to practice medicine ethically. It also establishes the principle of physician-patient confidentiality. A common interpretation of the oath is the phrase, "first, do no harm." Many medical terms are drawn from the work of Hippocrates.
Construction of Medical Terms
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Medical terminology simply refers to the words and phrases used to describe the elements of medicine, including medication, anatomy, medical instruments and treatments. Most medical terms are roots drawn from Latin or Greek combined with prefixes, suffixes or combining vowels to form the complete term. Medical students memorize these root words, prefixes and suffixes, which number several hundred. Afterward, it is relatively easy to construct thousands of complex medical terms using these elements.
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Gray's Anatomy
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In 1858, physicians Henry Gray and H.V. Carter created a book for surgical colleagues detailing the anatomical features of the human body. The text, commonly known as Gray's Anatomy, remains the gold standard for describing and depicting the physical features of the human body. The book was published in its 40th edition in 2008. Each edition of the book incorporates updates reflecting modern advances in medicine, while retaining the meticulous illustrations and careful discussion of human features and ailments which established it as the premier source for the anatomical basis for clinical (medical) practice.
Signs versus Symptoms
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Physicians differentiate between signs and symptoms during consultations with their patients. Signs are physical manifestations which may signal an ailment. Symptoms are complaints or ailments reported by patients to doctors in the course of examination or treatment. Signs and symptoms each represent clues for physicians to determine which tests or treatments may be needed to treat their patients. For instance, rapid weight loss in the absence of deliberate dieting is a sign which doctors would investigate for possible disease. Fatigue is a symptom which a patient would report and which doctors would note in their reports and also when developing a possible diagnosis.
Medical Transcription
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Medical transcriptionists transcribe dictated recordings made by physicians into medical reports, correspondence, and other administrative material. These documents include medical histories, examination reports and other detailed and highly sensitive documents. Medical transcriptionists must be able to translate medical jargon and abbreviations, as well as have a good understanding of medical terminology and related medical concepts, procedures and treatments, and practice standards of ethics and confidentiality. Physicians use the transcriptions provided by medical transcriptionists to produce reports which become part of their patents' permanent files.
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