How Do You Use Word Association With Medical Terminology?
Learning medical terminology is difficult because of the sheer amount of information you have to remember. Luckily, over time medical students have figured out a number of ways to memorize this complicated vocabulary. Using some tricks of the trade, you too can learn to use medical terminology by using word association. Make small lists of medical words you have to memorize, and work with them one at a time. For example, if you have a list of 100 medical words to remember this week, break them down into five- or ten-word lists. This is called “chunking.” Take one medical word from your list and write it down in the middle of a piece of paper or a note card. Then look at the word and write down the first word that comes to mind. You might have to learn the word “pulmonary,” which is related to the lungs, so you think of “pull” for pulling air into the body. Choose a word that is similar to your medical word that brings to mind an association. For example, medical terminology involving t
