Syllabus

Science Prerequisites for Health Professionals

MEDT 1000: Medical Terminology

Credits - 3

Description

This online course is a 3-credit hour course delivered at a distance and designed to provide the student interested in health care, health care delivery, or graduate study in some aspect of medicine or health care a broad and comprehensive understanding of the unique language of medical terminology.  

Materials

Learning Objectives and Outcomes

Learning Outcomes for Science Prerequisites for Health Professions Program

In lecture courses, students should be able to:

1. Communicate scientific concepts and information clearly.
2. Illustrate fundamental laws, theories, and principles of scientific disciplines.
3. Apply knowledge and critical thinking skills to scientific problems.

Course Objectives

This course may serve as an introduction to the language of medicine.  It is particularly useful for two types of students: 1) those interested in pursuing a career in a health-related field (such as medical transcription or medical office work), or 2) those needing to fulfill a requirement needed for application to a health profession school, such as physician assistant, medicine, dentistry, optometry, physical therapy or other related field.  It could also be useful for those interested in ancient language or the derivation of language in modern health care.  

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Demonstrate knowledge of the basic etymology of medical words.
2. Identify the component parts of medical terms and their combinatory meanings (prefixes, suffixes, and combining forms)
3. Apply guidelines for proper medical term formation, pronunciation, and spelling
4. Apply terminology and abbreviations in regards to systems of the body, diseases, and therapies within real-world situations

This is a course that is heavy on memorization, repetition, and skills that build on previous knowledge. The course is comprehensive in nature. Because of this comprehensive nature, it is vital that each module be mastered before moving on.  The course is considered self-paced, so you can plan your progression accordingly, as long as it is completed by the last day of the course.  Basic anatomy and physiological concepts will be introduced along the way such that at the completion the student will have a solid understanding of basic medical language and a rudimentary start on basic medical science and health related concepts that will be useful for other courses.

SELF PACED DESIGN

On the course start date, students will have access to orientation. This must be completed to be able to gain access to the first module in the course. Students must complete the first module to gain access to the next one. We recommend that students spend about 15 hours per week to complete a course in 16 weeks. When trying to complete the course in less than 16 weeks, we typically see students do this successfully within 12-14 weeks. Instructors will be timely in grading and feedback, but it will not be instant.

Assignments

Quizzes and Exams

There is a quiz for each chapter, assessing knowledge of terminology covered in that chapter. All quizzes are timed. Quizzes cannot be reopened once they are submitted.  Instructors review every quiz and test within 48 hours after it has been submitted in order to make any necessary grading adjustments.  If you have a question about what you missed on a quiz or exam, and 48 hours have passed since you took it, email your instructor.  Your instructor will tell you what to review based on your quiz answers.

Both exams will be comprehensive and will measure general understanding of medical terminology and word-building skills, as well as meeting the objectives for each module. In addition to multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions, the midterm and final will have several “essay” questions in which you will be asked to apply an understanding of medical terminology in communication. Both exams will be timed. Exams are closed book and closed notes, meaning that no resources, whiteboard, scratch paper, writing utensils, or any aide will be permitted for the duration of the exam. Use of UNE-compliant webcam required.

For all exams, you must review the Proctored Examinations information and requirements in the Policies section of this syllabus.

Case Study Timed Assignments

Each chapter, after Chapter 1, has a Case Study Timed Assignment, in which you will be asked to read a case study and then provide a short essay answer. The essay must correctly apply or define a minimum number of medical terms. You may also be asked to correctly abbreviate terms. These assignments are not proctored and are intended to prepare you for the similarly styled case study essay questions that appear in both the midterm and the final.

Wiki Learning Object Assignments

In Weeks 2, 4, 6, 10, 12 and 14, you will be assigned the completion of a Learning Object for a set of defined chapters from the textbook. A Learning Object is a study tool that helps you remember the meaning, spelling, sound, definition, etc. of a word for when you are asked about the word in a quiz or exam. The key to a good learning object is using images, rhymes, or some other mnemonic device to make the learning object, and the information it’s trying to convey, memorable. Throughout the class, you will be able to go back through all of the Learning Objects submitted by each of your classmates to review them in preparation for the Midterm, the Final, etc. Further instructions are available in the course.

Video Assignments

In weeks 5 and 11, you will be asked to give a presentation, in front of a camera, in which you must show your ability to apply medical terminology verbally. You should not use slides for these presentations; in one, you will be asked to either use a prop or your own body, to give a medical terminology tour of a specified system. You will not be allowed to use a transcript or note cards for these presentations. The goal of these presentations is to show that you are able to apply terminology, correctly and easily, in your speech.

Discussions

Discussion questions cover interesting current events or materials that contribute to a deeper understanding of key concepts and allow you to interact with your classmates and the instructor. There are a total of four required discussion questions throughout the course that constitute 12 points each – about 10% of your final grade. Most of the discussion questions are designed to accompany particular chapters (see specific discussion questions for more information). Each question will require you to conduct internet research, read additional materials (a short journal or magazine article), visit a specific webpage, OR view a short video. Then you will write a response following the guidelines in the assignment.

To earn full credit: you will need to post a response, respond to the original posts of at least two other students, and then contribute to an ongoing discussion. For special cases where one or two students are accelerating faster through the course, the instructor will participate in the discussion so that everyone has the opportunity to interact.

Discussion Question Guidelines:

1. Read the assignment carefully so that you are familiar with the materials that you need to cover and how to craft your post.
2. Respect each other’s ideas, feelings, and experiences. Some of the questions involve areas of disagreement. Expect your classmates to have different opinions.
3. Use proper writing style. Correct spelling and sentence structure are expected just as if you were writing a regular paper. Use spell check and grammar check before you submit.
4. Write your posting in a word document! That way you can save a copy and use spell check and grammar check.
5. Cite the sources that you use to write your response. Follow the AMA guidelines.
6. Avoid posting large blocks of text. Break your writing into paragraphs and use a space between paragraphs to make your posting easier to read online.
7. Subscribe to the discussion so that you get email updates when there is activity.
8. Use the “reply” button rather than the “compose” button when responding to someone else’s post.
9. When responding to a classmate, address them by name.
10. Do not use postings such as “I agree,” “I don’t know either,” or “ditto.” They do not add to the discussion, take up space on the Discussions, and will not be counted.
11. Everyone benefits from an active discussion. Check back in frequently to see what others are saying.
12. Plan your time carefully. You will need to give your classmates time to respond to your postings. This is an asynchronous class where students will be in different points of the class.

Formative Practice Activities

Each week, you will be required to complete formative practice activities. In Week 1, there is only one formative practice activity. In subsequent weeks, up to Week 14, there are four for each week. You may retake these formative practice activities as often as you like, both to increase your scores and get important practice for the more heavily valued (in your grades) quizzes and exams.

Grade Breakdown

Grading Policy

Your grade in this course will be determined by the following criteria:

Grade Breakdown