Medical Terminology, Anatomy, and Physiology
Medical Terminology
Scope
Medical terminology questions reward a structural approach: nearly every term is a root (the organ or tissue) plus a prefix (location, number, timing, or degree) plus a suffix (condition, procedure, or process), joined by a combining vowel. Learn high-yield prefixes - hyper- (excess), hypo- (deficient), tachy- (fast), brady- (slow), dys- (difficult or abnormal), poly- (many), intra- (within), inter- (between), sub- (under) - and high-yield suffixes: -itis (inflammation), -ectomy (surgical removal), -otomy (incision into), -ostomy (creating an opening), -plasty (repair), -rrhaphy (suture), -pexy (fixation), -megaly (enlargement), -emia (blood condition), -uria (urine condition), -scopy (visual examination), -gram (record), -graphy (recording process).
Traps
Look-alike pairs are the classic exam trap: ileum (small intestine) versus ilium (pelvic bone); -ectomy versus -otomy versus -ostomy; dysphagia (difficulty swallowing) versus dysphasia (difficulty speaking); hyper- versus hypo-. Plural rules also appear (diagnosis → diagnoses, vertebra → vertebrae, diverticulum → diverticula). Many professional and accreditation abbreviation lists ban error-prone shortcuts, so questions may ask which abbreviation is acceptable.
Rule of thumb
Decode a term backward: start at the suffix, then the root, then the prefix. “Cholecystectomy” = chole (bile) + cyst (sac/bladder) + -ectomy (removal) → surgical removal of the gallbladder. Then confirm the term’s meaning against the body system it belongs to, because coding accuracy depends on the anatomy, not just the word.
Anatomy and Physiology
Scope
Anatomy and physiology supplies the map that coding depends on. Candidates should be able to place organs in the correct body system and cavity, use directional terms correctly (anterior/posterior, superior/inferior, medial/lateral, proximal/distal, superficial/deep), name the planes (sagittal, coronal/frontal, transverse), and locate the abdominopelvic quadrants and regions. Core content includes the integumentary system and skin layers, the musculoskeletal system, the cardiovascular system and the path of blood through the heart and lungs, the respiratory tract, the digestive tract in order, the urinary system, the male and female reproductive systems, the endocrine glands, the nervous system, and the lymphatic and immune systems. Basic physiology - how the heart pumps, how kidneys filter, how digestion and absorption occur, how hormones regulate - explains why disease processes produce the findings documented in the record.
Traps
Questions often hinge on laterality (right versus left ear, eye, kidney, hip) or on distinguishing adjacent structures: sigmoid colon versus rectum, ureter versus urethra, pharynx versus larynx, and the four parathyroid glands versus the thyroid. Another trap is confusing a structure’s location with the system it belongs to - the pancreas has both exocrine digestive and endocrine functions, and the spleen is lymphatic, not digestive.
Worked example
A polyp is documented in the sigmoid colon. Sigmoid is part of the large intestine, not the rectum, so the code comes from the colon (large intestine) category, and only a rectal lesion would use a rectal code. Rule of thumb: identify the organ, then its system, then its laterality, then check the index - anatomy errors usually produce a plausible but wrong code family.