Medical Terminology and Anatomy
Terminology questions reward a systematic approach. Build words from roots, prefixes, and suffixes: cardi/o (heart), gastr/o (stomach), nephr/o (kidney), hepat/o (liver), dermat/o (skin), and suffixes such as -itis (inflammation), -ectomy (removal), -otomy (incision), -ostomy (opening), -algia (pain), and -megaly (enlargement). Know common prefixes: hypo- (under), hyper- (over), tachy- (fast), brady- (slow), and dys- (difficult or abnormal).
Review the major body systems and their key structures: cardiovascular (heart, vessels, circulation), respiratory (lungs, airways, gas exchange), gastrointestinal (digestion and absorption), genitourinary (kidneys, bladder), musculoskeletal (bones, joints, muscles), nervous, endocrine, and integumentary systems. Know the standard anatomical planes (sagittal, coronal, transverse) and directional terms (anterior, posterior, proximal, distal, medial, lateral).
Traps: confusing -otomy with -ostomy; mixing tachycardia with bradycardia; assuming hyper- and hypo- describe the same direction; and mixing proximal (closer to the trunk) with distal (farther away). Also watch for abbreviations with more than one meaning.
Rule of thumb: break the word apart before defining it. If you can identify the root and the suffix, the meaning usually follows.
Worked example: gastrectomy = gastr (stomach) + -ectomy (removal), so it means surgical removal of the stomach.