Video: Anatomical terminology for healthcare professionals | Episode 1 | Series intro

Did you know that there are over 6,500 spoken languages in the world today? And not one of them is called Anatomica or Anatomian or whatever weird name you think a language about human anatomy might be called. But once you dip your toes into the world of Medical Science and Healthcare, no one would blame you for thinking there ought to be one, would they? Because let's face it, the language of anatomy offers some intriguing challenges to the best of us, healthcare professionals and students alike. In fact, don't think many would argue that learning this complicated lingo of our body is not all that different from learning a foreign language, and just like any other language, the language of human anatomy is an ever-changing growing means of communication for healthcare professionals. New terms are constantly being added and old ones are being updated or replaced to provide more specific information. It's difficult to keep up.

Now the key to staying on top of all of this is to first wrap our minds around the particular code or order which holds anatomical terminology together. It's not just about learning individual words or even groups of words. It's also about breaking these words down and taking a look at the finer detail. And that's exactly why we're here.

Welcome to Anatomical Terminology for Healthcare Professionals.

Over the course of this dedicated series, we're going to be exploring the anatomical terminology of each and every system of the human body. You're going to learn how to look past an overwhelming anatomical term as a whole and rather get a grasp of the meaning of its word parts and how those parts work in combination with one another. Once you master this, it's going to be possible for you to tackle the most mind-bending of terms you're likely to encounter in a healthcare profession.

No longer you need to feel like you're trapped in a Mary Poppins nightmare every time you see words you can't even begin to pronounce, let alone memorize or understand – pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis – okay, she's right, though. The sound of that is most definitely quite atrocious.

Well, the secret to ending this nightmare once and for all is right in front of your eyes. It's all in the name. So, I guess, the big question now is, why do we need to learn anatomical terminology and how on earth did it end up being so important in clinical practice? Well, whether we like it or not, if we're planning to work in any kind of healthcare setting, there's no avoiding anatomical terminology. It's just a fact of the business.

With literally thousands of interconnected bits and pieces coming together to form the human body, it makes sense that we need an ultra-precise language to help us name and identify parts of our bodies. In a clinical setting, your doctor referring to a specialist for an achy tummy just isn't going to cut it. They need their language to provide a detailed description of what's going on and where it's going down. So whether we're actively working in or just beginning our career in a healthcare role, it's essential that we master the basics of this language in order to communicate better with your colleagues and prevent mistakes and misunderstandings in a professional setting and help you be an all-round, awesome healthcare professional.

But before we learn a single anatomical term, we need to deal with the undisputed elephant in the room. It's time to face the one undeniable fact that you are going to have to get a whole lot friendlier with the Greek and Latin languages. Yes, they are your new best friends, period. The purpose of these languages is not to actually confuse you but rather increase precision in how we describe things and actually reduce mistakes. It all comes from the fact that the study of human anatomy is considered to be the oldest of the defined medical fields and was first explored back in the times of ancient Greece leading up to the height of the Roman empire. This is why the terminology we use today mostly stems from Greek and Latin. These were simply the major languages of those times. As anatomy is the oldest of the Medical Sciences, its terminology has served as a cornerstone for just about every healthcare discipline developed from it, explaining why it's so important in modern practice.

So that's enough history for today. I think it's time to start this series and debunk the age-old myth that anatomical terminology is too difficult to master. In fact, I'm going to take a bet right now. If you stick with us for this course and learn how to take our systematic approach to learning anatomical and medical terminology, you might even admit at the end of this series that learning this language was almost easy. I say 'almost' because it is going to take a little work, but trust me, it's going to be worth the effort.