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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

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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( World Health Communications). 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 options, 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.

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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.

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.
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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 body

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
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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

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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.
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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.

Chabner, Davi-Ellen. The Language of Medicine. Elsevier, 2021.

“Communication Resources.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-
ncov/communication/index.html.

“Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19).” World Health Organization, World Health

Organization, www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019.

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/.
Jacobsen, Kathryn H., and Emily K. Vraga. “Improving Communication about COVID‐19 and
Emerging Infectious Diseases.” Wiley Online Library, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, 9 May 2020,
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/eci.13225.
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/.

Staff, NCCOS. “Coral Disease and Health Consortium.” CDHC,

cdhc.noaa.gov/disease/glossary_disease.aspx.

Zimmerman, Brian. “11 Key Infectious Disease Terms to Know: As International Travel,
Climate Change and Ecological Degradation Fuel the Global Spread of Infectious Disease,
Having a Firm Grasp on Epidemiological Nomenclature Is Becoming Increasingly
Important.” Becker's Hospital Review, www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/11-key-
infectious-disease-terms-to-know.html.