Day 3 Basic ENT knowledge https://www.askascent.com/forums/posts.aspx?topic=1198738 Sat, 6 Jun 2026 16:35:13 GMT Wed, 10 Feb 2016 20:08:24 GMT Copyright © 2016 ASCENT | Administrator Support Community for ENT Day 3 Basic ENT knowledge https://www.askascent.com/forums/posts.aspx?topic=1198738 https://www.askascent.com/forums/posts.aspx?topic=1198738 Hi Everyone-

Hopefully you are finding this is helpful in bite size pieces.   I had some info from Monday but just getting to post it now.  Pat did a good job of getting you started on terminology.  I personally love the terminology because if you can learn about the prefixes, roots or stems, and suffixes you can make sense out of any medical term.  So I am adding it here and then will start a new post for today as well.

All medical terms can be broken down into word parts. The three word parts that you will be concerned with are the prefix, the stem (root), and the suffix. Usually, only two of these parts are present in a medical term. 
The stem is the part of the word which gives the basic meaning to the term. 
The part of the word which comes before the stem and modifies or augments the meaning of the stem is called the prefix. 
The part of the word which comes after the stem and modifies or augments the meaning of the root word is called the suffix. 
All words have a stem. Even everyday words have stems. For example, in the words "singer," "writer," and "speaker," "sing," "write," and "speak" are the stems.
Certain combinations of stems are hard to pronounce. This is often true when a stem ends in a consonant and the word part that is added to it also begins with a consonant. This awkwardness of pronunciation makes it necessary to insert a vowel called a combining vowel. 
We find combining vowels in ordinary words. Instead of joining the two stems "therm" and "meter" directly, we insert the combining vowel "o" and say "therm - 'o' meter." 
Rhino and naso are stems which mean nose. A person who has rhinitis has inflammation of the ______? 
Nose
Laryngo is a stem meaning larynx or voice box. A laryngoscopy is an examination of the interior of the __________.
Larynx
Speaking of which can you say laryngoscopy without tripping over it?   Look at the phonetic spelling of it.  lar"ing-gos'ko-pe   Does that help?  Professionally as an administrator, you should be able to speak the language so phonetics are also really important.   I remember my first day in ENT, I was taught how to say oto-lar-in-gol-o-gee properly by a physician and told not to ever butcher the terminology if you want to be credible among both physicians and patients.
Tracheo is a stem which means upper windpipe or trachea. A person with tracheitis has an inflammation of the __________ __________ or __________. 
Upper windpipe or trachea
The stem stoma means mouth. A person who has stomatitis, for example, has inflammation of the __________.   
Mouth
Lingua and glossa are stems which mean tongue. Glossitis means inflammation of the __________. 
Tongue
Lingual means pertaining to the _________
Tongue
Cheilo is a stem which means lip. A cheiloplasty is the surgical repair of a defect of the __________. 
lip
Oto is a stem which means ear. Otoplasty, for example, means surgical repair of the __________. 
ear
Tympano and myringo are stems which refer to the eardrum. A tympanoplasty means surgical repair of the __________. 
eardrum
If Audio means hearing, then Audiogram means what kind of test?
Hearing test

Common Medical Root Words

The root of a word is its main part and core meaning. These common medical root words give you a general idea of what you’re dealing with or specify a body part.
  • Aden/o: Gland
  • Arteri/o: Artery
  • Audi/o: Hearing
  • Bio: Life
  • Bronch/i, bronch/o: Bronchus
  • Carcin/o: Cancer
  • Cyt/o: Cell
  • Derm/a, derm/o, dermat/o: Skin
  • Encephal/o: Brain
  • Hemat/o: Bl ood
  • Hist/o, histi/o: Tissue
  • Lymph/o: Lymph vessels
  • My/o: Muscle
  • Neur/o: Nerve
  • Ocul/o: Eye
  • Or/o: Mouth
  • Ot/o: Ear
  • Path/o: Disease
  • Pharmac/o: Drug
  • Pulmon/o: Lungs
  • Sept/o: Infection
  • Thorac/o: Chest/thorax
  • Thyr/o: Thyroid gland
  • Trachel/o: Neck or necklike

 

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