Acquiring Medical Language

Most medical terminology texts present the roots on one page, body system on one page, and a list of related anatomical terms on the next. The result is students fail to make connections and end up approaching the course as a never-ending series of lists to be memorized. Acquiring Medical Language is language focused. It introduces students to roots with illustrations of body systems and surrounds that information with term blocks that include specific word roots, examples containing that root, and some interesting facts to make the information more memorable. This exposes students to all the relevant information (the root, its meaning, its use), so they see how it relates to the other roots in the context of the body system. Each chapter of AML also is structured around the S.O.A.P framework. S.O.A.P stands for the four general parts of a medical note: Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Plan. After introducing the student to the important roots and the medical terms relevant to the body system, the roots are presented using the SOAP note as an organizational framework. Terms are presented to students under the following learning objectives: S – Subjective – Patient History, Problems, Complaints O – Objective – Observation and Discovery A – Assessment – Diagnosis and Pathology P – Plan – Treatments and Therapies

Andrew Cavanagh holds a B.S. in genetics from Texas A&M University and an M.D. from Texas A&M College of Medicine. After completing his residency at Palmetto Health Children's Hospital, he joined the pediatric practice of the Austin Regional Clinic. In addition to being board certified in pediatrics, Dr. Cavanagh has served as the pediatric specialty chief for Dell Children's Medical Center and on the board of Dell Children's Medical Center Executive Committee. He is currently clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at the Texas A&M College of Medicine.

Steven L. Jones holds a B.A. in Greek and Latin from Baylor University; an M.A. in Greek, Latin, and classical studies from Bryn Mawr College, and a Ph.D. in classics from the University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Jones has held previous faculty appointments at Trinity University, the University of Texas at Austin, and Baylor University. Currently, he teaches medical terminology at Rice University in Houston, Texas. He is also assistant professor of classics at Houston Baptist University, where he serves as chair of the Department of Classics and Biblical Languages and as director of the Master of Arts in Biblical Languages Program. He teaches courses in Latin, Greek, classical civilization, early Christianity, and the classical roots of medical language.