Basic Anatomy, Physiology and Medical Terminology
What this domain tests
Basic Anatomy, Physiology and Medical Terminology tests body organisation, directional terms, major organ systems, normal vital signs and the ability to decode medical words. Expect questions that ask you to build or interpret a term such as gastritis or bradycardia.
Core rules and concepts
- Anatomical position: standing upright, face forward, arms at the sides with palms forward, feet flat.
- Directional terms: anterior means front, posterior means back, superior means above, inferior means below, medial means towards the midline, lateral means away from it, proximal means nearer the trunk and distal means farther from it.
- Body planes: sagittal divides left and right; coronal divides front and back; transverse divides upper and lower.
- Major systems: skeletal, muscular, respiratory, circulatory, digestive, nervous, urinary, endocrine and reproductive.
- Normal adult vital signs: pulse 60 to 100 beats per minute, respiratory rate 12 to 20 breaths per minute, blood pressure about 120/80 mmHg, oral temperature 36.5 to 37.5 degrees Celsius, SpO2 95 to 100 percent.
- Word building: prefix plus root plus suffix. Gastr means stomach and -itis means inflammation.
Worked example. Interpret gastritis. Reasoning: the root gastr/o refers to the stomach and the suffix -itis means inflammation. Therefore gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining. Similarly, bradycardia has brady- (slow) plus cardi- (heart) plus -ia (condition), so it means a slow heart rate, usually below 60 beats per minute in an adult.
Traps that cost marks
Do not mix -itis (inflammation) with -ectomy (removal) or -ostomy (opening). Do not confuse left and right; describe the patient's own left and right. Do not treat 110/70 mmHg as high blood pressure.