Remembering Medical Terms

Remembering medical terms can be tough, and few people are required to remember more than students and professionals in the medical-related specialties.

I should know - I spent three years as a dental student before I finally dropped out. (I don't recommend that. Better to finish what you start.)

Because medical terminology can be so difficult to learn, though, mnemonic tricks and the memory systems need to be in your study arsenal.

The Keyword system is the most effective memory system for learning medical terms. I've provided examples below to show you how to use this method. A good time to use this system is when you have a term for which there is no readily-available mnemonic.

Remember that when using any of the memory systems, you must make an effort to clearly visualize the images. The images are the "cues" (or clues) that help you retrieve the information from your memory, much like the label on a file folder.

Example 1 - "ginglymoid". This word means "pertaining to or shaped like a hinged joint." If you could somehow associate the phrase "hinged joint" with this term in your memory, you'd easily be able to remember the definition. The first step with the Keyword system is breaking down the word phonetically into smaller sounds you can word with.

The word ginglymoid is pronounced "jing-lei-moyd" according to Taber's medical dictionary. Thinking carefully about the sound of this word, I realize it sounds a bit like "jingly mud" (of course, you would use whatever phrase pops into your mind).

For jingly mud, a silly but memorable image could be a gigantic bell stuck in the mud. I am trying and trying to ring it, but the mud is very thick and I'm breaking my back trying to pull it out. Try to see this in your mind's eye in great detail - what color is the bell? what metal is it made of? does it have a wooden handle? And so on.

To associate that image with the definition, I modify the picture to imagine the handle of the bell is not straight, but actually has a human elbow (a hinge) in the middle! As I pull on the bell, this elbow bends, making it even more difficult to pull the bell out of the mud.

There you have it. When I read or hear the word "ginglymoid", it will automatically make me think of "jingly mud", which instantly calls to mind the bell stuck in the mud. The image I visualized will remind me that this is no ordinary bell, but it has a hinged joint on the handle. Therefore, ginglymoid => hinged joint.

Explaining this out took a lot of words, but when you perform these steps in your mind using images, it goes very quickly.

Don't forget, you need to periodically review your image to set it firmly in your mind. It only takes a second to review an image. Review images after 10 minutes, then 30 minutes, then 2 hours, then less frequently (perhaps after one day, then one week). This will really put the image and the associated medical term into long-term memory.

Example 2 - "Minimata's Disease". This disease is a neurological disorder caused by accidental ingestion of mercury, which is a poison. To remember this fact and the name of the disease, we simply need to associate Minimata (pronounced "mee-nee-mah-tah") with mercury.

Remember that the visual images are cues, which means they don't have to include every part of the word or definition to remind you of the true meaning. If you study and understand a concept, then the visual image cue simply acts like that filing cabinet label and allows you to access the part of your memory where that information is stored.

"Minimata" sounds to me a lot like "meany mat". I picture a very mean door mat with arms, legs, and an angry face. This could be like the Welcome mat that many people have by their front doors. Now, most people know that your typical thermometer contains mercury (the silver liquid inside).

I visualize this angry mat taking a huge thermometer out of his mouth (I guess he was sick, and that's why he's mad) smashing the thermometer on the front porch. This splashes the silver mercury all over and gets broken glass everywhere, which is very hazardous.

You see with that image, it is not only silly, but it also adds exaggeration (a "huge" thermometer) as well as action (smashing the thermometer). These all help make the image more memorable.

When I read or see the phrase "Minimata's Disease", I'll realize it sounds like "meany mat". This will remind me of the mean mat who smashed his thermometer and spilled mercury every where. Oh yeah! Minimata => mercury poisioning.

Additional Resources

Here are some additional resources that can be very helpful when memorizing medical terminology.

In addition to the memory systems, I highly recommend you learn the medical mnemonics (memory tricks) that are relevant to your field of study. These provide ready-made memory cues for a great many terms.

An excellent resource for medical mnemonics is the website MedicalMnemonics.com. It's a free site with thousands of mnemonics contributed by medical students from all over the world. You can even download their database to your PDA and take it with you!

As for medical dictionaries, the best in my opinion is Taber's Cyclopedic Medical Dictionary. I have owned my copy since the early 1990's (back when I was in dental school). Taber's has remained popular with medical professionals for many years. It has more medical entries as well as higher user ratings on Amazon (for good reason) than the other medical dictionaries.

If you need to quickly look up a medical term online, you might want to try one of the free medical terminology websites. MedicineNet.com has a free online search tool that last time I checked contained about 16,000 entries (in comparison, Taber's has about 56,000).

Finally, consider learning the basic Latin and Greek word roots. Most medical terms contain Latin or Greek prefixes and suffixes. If you know these, you can deduce the meaning of a medical term just from the roots.

For example, the term "pachycelphalic" is composed of the Greek prefix pachy-, meaning thick, plus the suffix -cephalic, meaning of or related to the head. So "pachycephalic" refers to someone with an abnormally thick skull. :)

A helpul list of these roots is posted on the Lewis-Clark State College website. Plus there are lots more lists on the web that you can find by doing a Google search.

Good luck with your medical-related studies, and don't forget to make your life easier by using mnemonics and memory systems!

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