Week 1 Lecture (Thursday): Medical Terminology Review

Week 1 Overview

Daily Schedule

• Day 1:
  • Week kickoff on Zoom.
  • Assignments: Intro to Stepful, Intro to MA.
• Day 2 (Wednesday):
  • "Strategies for Success at Stepful" on Zoom.
  • Assignment: Healthcare Fundamentals.
• Day 3:
  • Assignment: Medical Terminology.
  • Slack participation: Graded Medical Terminology Review competition.
• Day 4:
  • Week Review on Zoom.
  • Assignment: Week 1 feedback.

Lessons 1 & 2: Introduction to Medical Assisting

• Review of the week's topics:
  • MA duties and responsibilities.
  • Organizations and credentials.
  • Training and scope of practice.
  • Professional development.
  • Roles and responsibilities in healthcare.
  • Healthcare delivery models and facilities.
  • General and specialty services in medicine.
  • Introduction to insurance plans, terminology & billing forms.

Key Terms

• Scope of practice: Delegated clinical and administrative duties consistent with education, training, and experience.
• Standard of care: The degree of care or competence expected in a particular circumstance or role.
• Ambulatory: Able to walk.
• Managed care: A term for medical plans that provide health care in return for preset scheduled payments coordinated through a network of providers and hospitals.
• Osteopathic: A type of medical care based on how the musculoskeletal system affects other body parts and using various manipulative methods along with conventional medical, pharmacological and other therapeutic procedures.
• Professionalism: The skills, behavior and appropriate judgement that represent the best qualities of a person in a specific profession.
• Work ethic: A set of values based on the moral virtues of hard work and diligence.

Lesson 3: Medical Terminology

• Review of the week's topics:
  • Parts of medical terms.
  • Common root words, prefixes, and suffixes.
  • Common medical abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols.
  • “Do Not Use” list of abbreviations, acronyms, and symbols in charting.

Key Medical Terms

• Amputation - Surgical removal of all or part of a limb or extremity.
• Biopsy - The removal and examination of tissue to diagnose a disease.
• Coronary artery bypass graft - Surgery that eliminates a blockage in an artery going to the heart.
• Coronary artery disease - A disorder that involves partial or complete blockage of blood vessels that supply the heart.
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease - A persistent disorder that impairs breathing.
• Dilation and curettage - Surgery involving the use of an instrument to open the cervix and then cutting away tissue inside the uterus for therapeutic purposes.
• Electrocardiogram - A record of the heart’s electrical impulses.
• Genitourinary - Referring to the urinary and reproductive organs.
• Gynecology - The type of medical practice that deals with the female reproductive system.
• Hematocrit - The percentage of blood sample that is red blood cells.
• Hemoglobin - The red oxygen carrying pigment of red blood cells.
• Incision - A surgical wound that results from cutting into tissue.
• Myocardial infarction - An interruption of blood flow to the heart causing heart muscle damage, AKA heart attack.
• Nasogastric - from the nose to the stomach.
• Obstetrics - The type of medical practice that deals with women giving birth.
• Pelvic inflammatory disease - A bacterial infection of the female reproductive organs.
• Rheumatoid arthritis - An autoimmune disease that causes pain swelling and deformity especially in the hands and feet due to inflammation in the joints.
• Tonsillectomy - Surgical removal of the tonsils.
• Adenoidectomy - The removal of small masses of lymphatic tissue near the opening into the pharynx.
• Tuberculosis - A highly contagious infectious disease of the lungs that causes necrosis, death of lung tissue.
• Transient ischemic attack - A temporary interruption of blood flow to the brain.
• Urinalysis - A diagnostic examination of urine.