Jennifer L. Dorsey

Jennifer L. Dorsey, PhD has coauthored, revised, and ghostwritten books in the medical, business, and personal growth categories for more than 20 years.

Articles & Books From Jennifer L. Dorsey

Medical Terminology For Dummies
Become fluent in the standardized language of all medical fields Medical Terminology For Dummies is a resource for current and prospective healthcare professionals who need to understand medical terms, from common to complex. This book clearly explains how to quickly identify, pronounce, define, and apply medical terms in a healthcare setting.
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Cheat Sheet / Updated 07-07-2025
Grasping medical terminology starts with knowing the body’s systems, recognizing medical root words commonly used, understanding the Greek influence in medical terminology, and learning those pesky hard-to-spell medical words.Your Body’s SystemsYour body is made up of many systems, each having their own vital parts that work together.
Article / Updated 08-11-2021
What makes up the inside of your body, from cells to organs and everything in between, lends itself to an abundance of body part-related medical terms. All the root words and combining forms can morph into all kinds of different words that explain everything from everyday common conditions and procedures to pathology and pharmacology.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Once you know the specific parts of the cardiovascular and lymphatic systems a bit better, it’s time to put your medical terminology expertise into practice. Here’s a list of cardio roots, prefixes, and suffixes. It also gives an example medical term for each. Root Word What It Means Example Aort/o Aorta Aortic Angi/o Vessel Angiogram Arteri/o Artery Arteriosclerosis Arteriol/o Arteriole Arteriolitis Ather/o Yellow plaque or fatty substance Atherosclerosis Atri/o, atri/a Atrium Atrioventricular Cardi/o Heart Cardiomegaly Coron/o Heart Coronary Ox/o, ox/i Oxygen Oximeter Phleb/o Vein Phlebitis Pulmon/o Lung Pulmonary Scler/o Hardening Sclerotherapy Thromb/o Clot Thrombus Valv/o, valvul/o Valve Valvular Vas/o Vessel Vasoconstriction Ven/o Vein Venotomy Venul/o Venule Venulitis Ventricul/o Ventricle Ventricular Prefix or Suffix What It Means Example Brady Slow Bradycardia Tachy Fast Tachycardia -graph Instrument used to record Electrocardiograph -graphy Process of recording Electrocardiography -gram Picture or finished record Electrocardiogram Check out this list of lymphatic roots and suffixes.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Once you know the specific parts of the integumentary system, it’s time to put your medical terminology expertise into practice by tracking down the meaning of root words and checking out their useful applications. The roots are essential medical terminology knowledge, because once you master these roots (good ol’ Greek and Latin ones, that is), you can break down any hair/skin/nail/gland-related word and discover its meaning.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Your body is made up of many systems, each having their own vital parts that work together. This list represents your bodily systems and the specific parts that comprise them: Skeletal: Bones, axial skeleton, appendicular skeleton, and joints Muscular: Muscles and tendons Integumentary: Skin, hair, nail
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
You will need to know all about the lymphatic system and the medical terminology related to it. The lymphatic system is most directly associated with immunity. Once cleaned by the lymph nodes, lymphatic fluid is released directly into the bloodstream. Lymph vessels are arranged in a similar pattern as the blood vessels, but work to clear the body of impurities.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
If you are just getting started learning medical terminology, prefixes and suffixes are a good launching point. Yes, there are lots more prefixes for medical terminology than you see listed here. But, to get you started, here is a quick look at some of the most common prefixes that play a huge role in both common, everyday English and medical terminology.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
Got a problem with the respiratory system? Well, here are the medical terms you’ll need. Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, there are all sorts of ways physicians and other medical professionals can diagnose what ails those airways. Respiratory radiology and diagnostic tests To start, physicians rely on their senses to look and listen to what your lungs and associated respiratory parts are doing.
Article / Updated 03-26-2016
The makeup of the male reproductive system, with all its tubes, ducts, and medical terms can be complicated and subject to several types of conditions. Make sure you’re familiar with the vocabulary. Pathological male reproductive conditions Here are some of the pathological conditions associated with the male reproductive system: Adenocarcinoma of the prostate: Malignant tumor of the prostate; second most common cause of cancer deaths in men over 50; radical (complete) prostatectomy along with radiation and chemotherapy is the most common treatment Andropathy: Diseases of the male Anorchism: The state of absence of a testicle, one or both Aspermia: Condition of absence of sperm Balanocele: Protrusion of glans penis (through rupture of prepuce) Balanitis: Inflammation of glans penis Balanorrhea: Excessive discharge from the glans penis, often the first symptom of a sexually transmitted disease BPH (benign prostatic hypertrophy/hyperplasia): Enlargement or excessive development of prostate gland in males over 60 years of age, can cause a urinary obstruction with inability to empty the bladder completely or all at once; surgical treatment is prostatectomy Cryptorchidism: Undescended testicle (crypt meaning “hidden”); two months before birth, testicles should descend into scrotal sac Epididymitis: Inflammation of the epididymis Epispadias: Congenital (present at birth) opening of the male urethra on the upper surface of penis Erectile dysfunction: Inability of male to attain or maintain an erection to perform sexual intercourse Hydrocele: Hernia or sac of fluid in the testis or in the tube leading from the testis, can occur in infancy and usually resolves during the first year of life Hypospadias: Congenital opening of the male urethra on the undersurface of the penis (present at birth) Impotence: Lack of power to obtain erection or to copulate Oligospermia: Condition of scanty sperm (in seminal fluid) Orchitis/orchiditis: Inflammation of testes or a testis Phimosis: Narrowing of the opening of the foreskin over the glans penis that does not allow the foreskin to retract, obstructing urination and causing secretions to accumulate under the prepuce, leading to infection Priapism: Prolonged abnormal erection of penis with pain and tenderness Prostatitis: Inflammation of the prostate gland Prostatocystitis: Inflammation of prostate gland and bladder Prostatolith: Stone in the prostate Prostatorrhea: Excessive discharge from the prostate Testicular carcinoma: Malignant tumor of the testis, classified according to type of tissue involved; examples: seminoma, embryonal carcinoma, and teratocarcinoma (a malignant teratoma); commonly treated with surgery: orchidectomy, radiation, and chemotherapy Testicular torsion: Twisting of spermatic cord causing decreased blood flow to testicle; occurs most often during puberty; considered a surgical emergency Varicocele: Large, herniated, swollen veins near the testis, associated with oligospermia (lower than normal amount of sperm) and infertility Male reproductive diseases and pathology Unfortunately, some of the most common diseases of the male reproductive system are the kind that make headlines, and not in a good way.