How Medical Terminology Can

Help Understand Covid-19

By: Sara Schuster

English II

ENC1102

Dr. Steffen Guenzel

November 16, 2020

 How Medical Terminology Can Help Understand Covid-19

2020 so far has been riddled with disaster since the very beginning of the year. The biggest

problem of them all is the Coronavirus Pandemic. The virus seems to have taken over the world

for the better part of the year. The Virus itself has only been in the U.S for about 8 months but

Covid-19 has made its way around the world. So far, many people in the U.S have been affected

by the virus and as of right now there is really no known cure or way to completely protect

yourself from contracting Covid-19.

The language of medicine in a practice that allows doctors to communicate and understand

medical terminology. Within Language of Medicine (LOM) the separate word parts of the single

word all have different meanings regarding location and which specific body part the word is

referring to. When it comes to the Covid-19 pandemic how can having knowledge of basic

medical terminology can allow people who are not doctors better understand the virus and help

them prepare better for the virus?

When we see news stories either on the TV or in the newspaper regarding the virus big words

may be used while sharing information to the public that will essentially go straight over the

reader or listeners head because regular people don’t know what those big words mean. That is

why there is a difference between communication between patient-doctor communication, doctor

to doctor communication, and doctor to the public communication. Even when people who have

been diagnosed with Coronavirus, when talking with doctors about option big medical terms can

be used and thus confusing the patient because the medical terms have been lost in translation.

Although doctors find the use of medical terminology and

Language of Medicine as second nature, to others it can be confusing and hard to understand.

That is why with a little bit of background knowledge of medical terminology the line of

communication can be clearer with patient- doctor communication.

The problem is that communication between doctors and patients can become muddled when the

understanding of medical terminology and the use of Language of Medicine are on two

completely different levels. This may lead to a patient not fully understanding what their

condition is or not knowing what the doctor is doing to them. With the research at hand we can

see that when a patient has just a little bit of background of words and word parts used in the

medical field, the communication can become easier. Hearing doctors talk in big words that you

do not understand can already be scary enough but when it comes to your own health and ways

to protect yourself from the virus knowing the basics will ease the fear of the virus, even if it’s

just a fraction.

The sources that I have chosen to help me with my research center around either the virus itself,

protection from the virus, communication, and medical terminology. Pertaining to the

communication about the virus has shown that “risk communication” has been apparent during

the pandemic because of the highly infections state of the virus. With medical terminology it is

hard to relate it to the virus and that would be one of the biggest roadblocks that I have faced but

making the connection between doctors and patients is all about understanding what the words

actually means to the recipient.

Medical Terminology goes back to ancient Greek times and more specifically Hippocrates (CIP

Courses). In the 4th and 5th centuries the first accounts of the use of medical terminology were

recorded and some of the words used then are the same terms that are used today. The use of

these medical terms thus “influenced the world of medicine for almost 1,500 years” (CIP
Courses). Then, over the years more during the Renaissance period, Latin terms made its way

into medical terminology describing the structures of the human body. The same goes for Arabic,

during the middle ages, word parts in Arabic were added to the language of medicine. The root

of medical terminology started in ancient Greece but then expanded as more knowledge and

exploration of the human body spread across the globe.

The medical terms themselves are broken up into word parts such has prefix, suffix, and roots.

The purpose of having the word parts is to be able to define body parts, location, and possible

problem of said body part. Most of the time the root word is the describing the particular body

part or subject in question. For example, in the word “biology”, the word part “Bio-” means life

and living organisms and the word part “-logy” means the study of. Therefore, the term biology

means the study of life and living organisms. In medical terminology prefixes describe the

relationship of the words, for example, “an-” meaning, lack of or weakness and “hypo-” meaning

under or below. The prefix of a word allows medical doctors to know the location of a problem

in most cases. The suffix of the word “modifies and amplifies the meaning of the root in most

cases but it also allows doctors to know the state of the root word. For example, the suffix “-ic”

means pertaining to so, the term “pathologic” means the pertaining to pathology. The use of the

word parts is very important because it allows medical doctors to know what part of the bofy

they are working with, the location (above, below, ext.), and what the possible problem or state

of the that specific body part (Banay). The ability to be able to break down words makes

understanding easier because “the first impact of the long, unfamiliar words is decidedly

depressing” (Banay), thus being able understand them can make going to the doctor or getting

information about the Coronavirus can easier to normal everyday people who are not medical

doctors or people who are very familiar with medical terminology.

For medical doctors, medical terminology is something that is second nature to them. This is

probably because it is a skill that is taught all through medical school and is constantly building

on itself. The language of medicine seems to be like its very own language that is spoken

between doctors and other medical staff but, can also be very confusing and discouraging to

other who don’t completely understand the innerworkings of the language. Having the

knowledge of medical terminology allows doctors to be able to quickly and efficiently

understand what they are talking about and also helps avoid confusion between doctors in

situations involving organs that have multiple names. For example, if a doctor were to say “there

is something wrong with the throat” there could be confusion because the throat area of the body

involves the trachea and the esophagus, which are part of two completely different organ

systems.

Going back to Covid-19, during this time of everyone’s life it can be scary because of the mass

amount of unknown terminology that is being thrown around because of the virus, thus making

communication between the public and patients with medical officials strained. The whole point

of my research is to show how understanding how medical terminology can help better protect

yourself from the virus. Risk communication about the virus is very important because without

effective communication information is not properly delivered and that leads to confusion thus a

nation-wide crisis. During pandemics like Covid-19, where there is “high rates of infection,

significant morbidity, lack of therapeutic measures, and rapid increases of cases”

(Sciencedirect.com), communication between officials and the public needs to be efficient to

ease the already tense and restricted line of communication.

The U.S. seems to have taken a toll during the virus and it is clear to see that depending on what

state you are in communication has had an exponential change. Broad cast communication has
seen an all-time high regarding the virus by this I mean that on the news and over the radio all

you hear about is the virus. But at the same time doctor-patient, face to face communication has

seen a decrease. People going in for normal routine check-ups and other non-life-threatening

appointments are canceling because of the fear of being infected with the virus (Pennic). Because

of this it is important to have some knowledge of medical terminology because if people are not

going to the doctor then they need to understand the medical terminology that is being plastered

all over the news. If people are going to be at home quarantined to protect themselves from the

virus it would be helpful for people who are not doctors to actually understand what the big

words that they are hearing actually mean, I feel that it cannot only help the public protect

themselves but also ease the panic that this pandemic has caused.
 Works Cited:

Abrams, Elissa M., and Matthew Greenhawt. “Risk Communication During COVID-
19.” The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice, Elsevier, 15 Apr. 2020,
www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213219820303639.

Banay Ph.D., George L. An Introduction to Medical Terminology I. Greek and Latin
Derivations. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC194697/pdf/mlab00247-0013.pdf.

Courses, CIP. “What Is Medical Terminology? The Language of Medicine & Health
Science.” Caduceus International Publishing, 23 Jan. 2020,
www.cipcourses.com/resources/what-is-medical-terminology/.
Pennic, Fred. “Report: How the COVID-19 Pandemic Is Changing Patient
Communications.” Healthcare IT News, 27 Apr. 2020, hitconsultant.net/2020/04/27/report-
covid-19-pandemic-patient-communications/.