Medical Terminology: A Practical Self-Help Guide to Master Medical Terms

This manual is a compendium of the author's teaching material during many years of service in health care. When the Dr. W. W. Cross Cancer Institute, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, opened in 1968, many new staff had to be recruited. Nursing assistants were unavailable. This author, then director of nursing, offered a program for nursing assistants, with good response; a valuable addition to the institute staff. Every department needed new staff. There was an influx of oncologists from around the globe, all with differing dialects, a problem for medical records transcription staff, who also had to contend with new medical terminology. Potentially serious transcription errors occurred. Upon request by the senior radiologist, a program to teach medical records staff the meanings and pronunciations of medical terms was developed. The outcome was so successful that the National Cancer Institute, on becoming aware of the program, asked that the material be prepared for publication in their manual for cancer records officers for circulation to oncology centers in underdeveloped countries. This medical terminology manual is a revision of the original, a reference that will be an excellent desk companion for medical secretaries, nurses and other paramedical students or staff.