medical terminology flash cards
I find that my adult learners enjoy making up flash cards of the medical terms in each of the body systems. I also have them practice together with their cards, and I have them draw pictures as well on the flash card. For example, they may draw a body part such as a kidney or heart, etc.
Mary Ann, flashcards are a great teaching tool that can be used in many ways.
Michele Deck
I will be teaching medical terminology for the first time. This sounds like a good way to get the students involved and also to reinforce the content with repitition. I look forward to trying it.
Thank you!
I have also experienced the same retention issues. I think the idea of having them spell words is great. It gets them up and out of their seats and it also involves the entire class. Thank you for the idea. I will let you know how it works for me.
I love this idea, Mary. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.
I have experienced similar retention issues with medical terminology and coding students. I decided to implement a sort of game that seems to instill the word elements a little better. I have several students choose a flashcard and go to the front of the room. They have to stand in a line to form a word (the word doesn't have to be real) prefixes at the beginning, combining forms in the middle and suffixes at the end. Then the rest of the class can have fun interpreting the new word. Usually this evokes roars of laughter!!!
I fully agree that the med terms are a new language and when the students master it, they will be rewarded by joining the medical community and earn a good living. I'm going to teach med term next quarter for the first time. I found the use of flash cards to be a great idea and I'll plan to review the terms throughout the quarter to enhance long term memory.I also appreciate the website Quizlet, allowing students to construct their own med term test questions.
Thanks for sharing your success!
I always encourage the use of flash cards in my Med Term class, they're quick and easy to study and as you learn the word and its meaning, you can put that card aside and focus on the more difficult ones. Since some students are visual learners the cards work well with them writing and drawing or placing pictures on the card to help with the memorization of the term. I also use Quizlet as another resource for my students.
To help them use the cards more before the last minute of the test, try using the game "The Mad Minute." Have a student be a moderator and use their cards for the round. The moderator reads the definition and the students are to write the word. The moderator should provide 3 - 4 seconds between the end of one defintion and the start of the next. A timer is used (Stopwatch.com is the one I use; it has an exploding bomb the students like to watch) and set for 1 minute. At the end of the round,the moderator reads the definition and asks for a volunteer to give the word. I play a few rounds of this with the students and then see who had the most correct answers; I usually give them some award like a small candybar or something
Teaching medical terminology is like teaching a new language for this instance, flash cards are a helpful and fun tool to manage that type of overwhelming new information.
It's amazing how students listen to peers and how important fostering that message is.
There are websites available with flashcards ready made you can download. I encouraged students to download them, color code them and review periodically to prepare for the registry. One of the recent graduates that followed this advice just a little came and gave the students a wake up call that it really would work if you did it. She missed passing by 10 points and reviewing the cards she was sure would have helped more.
I have my students write flash cards, they learn the words and how to break them down by studing them, I also explain to them that they will use their cards through out the rest of their time at school.
Valerie, textbooks have a great wealth of tools that come bundled with them.
My students utilize the cd that comes with their text book. On the cd, we have digital flash cards. I find those that use the cd to study do better on the tests.
When I teach med term I like to have the students make flash cards as well. I have found when putting word parts on the flash card and having them put some sort of picture on the word part itself that relates to the word part. for example:
hepat/o one side of the card. andmake and onion out of the o. back side of the card write liver, so when they see the onion they can relate hepat/o to liver and onions.
The colored coding of each part is a great visual tool and a wonderful suggestion. Thanks!
Flash cards are a very handy tool that I feel is very useful. I have the students purchase flash cards in three different colors, one for suffixes, one for prefixes, and one for combining forms. This method helps the students study and to get them used to pulling words apart and putting them back together again.
Deanna, I know this is frustrating. It is one of the reasons I like to use reinforcing activities in between.
