Are you struggling to get through medical school and require a medical terminology book? Or, are you merely looking to find the best terminology book out there? Whatever your reason, you have come to the right place.
In the medical community, you must know how to speak the language of your industry. You would never hear a doctor or a nurse refer to an artery inaccurately, as using the wrong terminology could significantly affect a person’s diagnosis. Medical dictionary books are essential in not only your course work but your tenure in the medical industry.
This list will seek to provide you with the best options as referred to by peers and students who were once in your shoes. We will provide you with information surrounding what makes them unique and what others are saying about them. Essentially, we will make it easy for you to make a decision; all you have to do is keep reading.
If you want to just get back to studying, get our top pick for medical terminology books here.
Last update: 2024-05-02
Our Favorites for Best Medical Terminology Books
Medical Terminology: The Best and Most Effective Way to Memorize, Pronounce, and Understand Medical Terms by David Andersson, M. Mastenbjörk M.D., S. Meloni M.D.
Medical Terminology: The Best and Most Effective Way to Memorize, Pronounce, and Understand Medical Terms is one of the most recommended terminology books. The book understands and enforces that if you are reading this book, you are a potential medical profession, and knowing the terminology is essential. The book focuses on providing students with fundamentals and continuously testing their knowledge.
What Makes It Unique:
- Medical Terminology is not just a study guide but a workbook for learning the most used medical terminology. It is a great book that can be used simultaneously with your anatomy and physiology course.
- The text also provides you with several opportunities to practice what you are learning through a variety of exercises.
- With the purchase of this text, students also can download an option medical terminology eBook for free. It provides additional questions to ensure you are retaining the information you are taking in.
Why Choose this Medical Terminology Book:
- This medical terminology gem is divided in a manner that aims to make learning the terminology as easy as possible. The text opens by explaining the importance of medical terminology. It then goes on to help students familiarize themselves with the beginning and ends of words. Root words are in line. The order aims to create a medical terminology foundation and steadily build upon it. The book ends with answers to the exercises in the text, as well as tips and additional resources that students can utilize to continue learning.
- Many students adore and highly recommend this text. It is repeatedly mentioned by nurses, students, and even emergency department workers.
- Medical Terminology: The Best and Most Effective Way to Memorize, Pronounce, and Understand Medical Terms is also smaller than you would expect. Though with the amount of information it possesses, it could be the size of a hefty textbook, it is a handheld text. It is the perfect size to carry with you as a reference or to study on the go.
- Many people also recommend this text as it is excellent for beginners. The book not only covers root words but suffixes and prefixes. It breaks them down to the simplest terms possible.
- Andersson, David (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 163 Pages - 11/15/2016 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)
Last update: 2024-05-02
Medical Terminology for Health Professions, Spiral bound Version by Ann Ehrlich & Carol L. Schroeder
Medical Terminology for Health Professions is the perfect companion for students and professionals alike. The book includes not only foundational information but a table of abbreviations that are commonly used as well as a glossary, which contains procedures and pathology. The book is arranged by body system to allow ease of readability.
What Makes It Unique:
- Medical Terminology for Health Professions aims to be the medical terminology dictionary, which makes learning a breeze. Students can easily search the text for terminology by body system and further break down from there.
- The Comprehensive Review at the end of the text makes quizzing yourself easily and allows students to gauge how much of the book’s information was retained.
- Medical Terminology for Health Professions lives up to its name as it provides system related terms as well as other areas. These areas include diagnostic procedures, nuclear medicine, and even pharmacology.
- Each chapter begins with a vocabulary list. This list serves as a review sheet and provides students with 60 essential terms, as well as 15 keyword parts and their corresponding meaning.
Why Choose this Medical Terminology Book:
- The Sounds-Like area included in each chapter helps students pronounce words which they may not be familiar with. Capital letters and bold type are used to accentuate the strongest accents of the word.
- If you are curious about if some words were more important than others, never fear, the book has you covered. Words are split between being primary or secondary terms. Fundamental terms are the most important terms within a chapter. These are the words students should make sure that they memorize.
Secondary words are pictured in each chapter in blue font aid are used to aid in explaining the meaning of primary terms. - If you are afraid you won’t be able to practice with these words, Medical Terminology for Health Professionals has you covered there too. They offer 100 learning exercises per chapter, which require one or two-word responses.
- Many students highly recommend this book and state that it even comes with flashcards at the back of the book. The book gets straight to the point, and it is easy for them to understand. Some Medical Terminology instructors also use this text as a means to create their curriculum.
- Ehrlich, Ann (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 688 Pages - 01/01/2016 (Publication Date) - Cengage Learning (Publisher)
Last update: 2024-05-02
Runner Ups for Best Medical Terminology Books
Medical Terminology: A Living Language by Bonnie Fremgen and Suzanna S. Frucht
Medical Terminology: A Living Language can be used as an excellent supplemental text or the perfect companion to your medical terminology course. The book aims to provide real-world context for how to utilize the medical language. MyMedicalTerminologyLab can also come as a supplement with the text. This software allows users to work on homework, provides tutorials, and even provides assessment programs to work with all students.
What Makes It Unique:
- Each chapter in the text is divided by systems but opens with an introduction to medical terminology. This introduction gives students seven goals they should keep in mind when learning. They also act as “rules” for getting the most out of the text.
- Each chapter also begins with an illustration of the system, which will be covered as well as other essential information to explain what is to come. This, at a glance view, provides background information about the system. It also provides the suffixes and prefixes used in its wording.
- Color is used throughout the text to aid students in understanding the material. The beginning of each section also includes a listing of the terms to be defined. The red book explains the terms combined to create the word, whereas the green text shows prefixes and green for suffixes.
- Word tables ensure that the book stays concise and provides a quick reference for students. Each word table is color-coded to match a specific specialty.
Why Choose this Medical Terminology Book:
- Many students highly recommend this text for the tests and the practice as you go options. They find that it is perfect for a companion text or even for independent study.
- This book is a fundamental option and is not for users who are looking for more in-depth options.
- This is an excellent text to use as a companion for entry-level courses. Medical Terminology: A Living Language requires no prior knowledge of human anatomy and a basic level of human biology. By the way, we go over the best anatomy coloring books here and best anatomy textbooks here.
- Fremgen, Bonnie (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 640 Pages - 01/04/2018 (Publication Date) - Pearson (Publisher)
Last update: 2024-05-02
Medical Terminology: Learn to Pronounce, Understand and Memorize Over 2000 Medical Terms by Matt Clark
Medical Terminology: Learn to Pronounce, Understand, and Memorize Over 2000 Medical Terms is a book that was created for students and health professionals alike. The text has helped a variety of students pass tests like the NCLEX, CEN, and even the Physician’s assistant exam. It covers the basics like root words, prefixes, and even suffixes. It also includes tips and pronunciation techniques.
What Makes It Unique:
- Medical Terminology: Learn to Pronounce, Understand, and Memorize Over 2000 Medical Terms can be used as a medical dictionary. Though the chapters are divided by systems, they are pieced together in a typical word list format.
- Each chapter includes a brief description as an opener and gives an overview of the words you will find. Each of the different words is placed in boldface font with a pronunciation key following.
- The chapters also contain a list of prefixes or suffices and their corresponding meanings.
Why Choose this Medical Terminology Book:
- Medical Terminology: Learn to Pronounce, Understand, and Memorize Over 2000 Medical Terms is an extremely useful and highly informative guide. It is in-depth and provides a comprehensive listing of words.
- If you are a struggling medical professional or are having a hard time understanding the lingo of your medical office, this is the perfect go-to book for all your needs.
- Clark, Matt (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 415 Pages - 02/15/2019 (Publication Date) - Independently published (Publisher)
Last update: 2024-05-02
Value Picks for Best Medical Terminology Books
Medical Terminology: An Illustrated Guide by Barbara Janson Cohen
Within this text, students use real-world concepts to learn terms and reinforce previously studied information. Medical Terminology: An Illustrated Guide has an enhanced art program which makes it a strong candidate for classroom study and even distance learning
What Makes It Unique:
- The book is divided into an array of parts. It includes body systems, disease & treatment, as well as an introduction to overall medical terminology. The information contained in the text consists of word derivatives, drugs, types of illness, and much more.
- The text includes an array of imagery and charts to aid you in placing definitions with names and pictures.
Why Choose this Medical Terminology Book:
- If you are looking for colorful diagrams and charts, this an excellent option for your medical terminology dictionary. This is also an excellent option for nursing students or students beginning nursing school in the near future.
- Cohen, Barbara Janson (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 666 Pages - 03/24/2016 (Publication Date) - Jones & Bartlett Learning (Publisher)
Last update: 2024-05-02
Medical Terminology For Dummies, 3rd Edition by Beverley Henderson and Jennifer L. Dorsey
The “For Dummies” series is back with another simplified medical textbook. It teaches students not only the fundamentals of medical terminology but provides understandable explanations. Medical Terminology for Dummies also provides a quick option for a student to learn medical terminology.
What Makes It Unique:
- The book uses a series of icons and symbols to making learning easy for students. This includes things to remember, warnings, and even did you know symbols.
- Medical Terminology for Dummies also provides purchasers with an eBook option so that you can access these resources from almost anywhere.
- This For Dummies text must be digested in order. Though readers have the option to start anywhere, readers may gain the most knowledge by merely going in order. This ensures that users start from the ground up.
Why Choose this Medical Terminology Book:
- The book contains a wide variety of information and is an excellent reference text. Medical Terminology for Dummies includes an array of data on the various systems and abbreviations.
- This is an excellent text to break down terms to beginners and struggling students.
- It is written for the likes of medical students, a medical professional who is looking to brush up on their terms or someone who is curious about what their doctors are saying.
- Henderson (Author)
- English (Publication Language)
- 416 Pages - 11/15/2019 (Publication Date) - For Dummies (Publisher)
Last update: 2024-05-02
How to Choose the Best Medical Terminology Book for You
Choosing the best medical dictionary book is not an easy feat. It is something that takes time, energy, and effort. You must evaluate all the factors which go into what makes a book great for you. You must ask yourself several questions before purchasing a text. These questions include the following:
Will I be using this book to supplement my course work?
Before choosing a textbook, you must first ask yourself if you are using this textbook for leisure or coursework. When looking for a helpful text, you must understand if you are looking for something with a more formal language or a relaxed tone.
Will I be using this text for independent study?
If you are planning to use this text for independent study rather than a more informal resource, you must critique the books you are researching differently. For example, a dictionary-style text would be ideal for a resource rather than an independent study text.
What level is the medical terminology book aimed at?
If you are a seasoned healthcare professional, you should not be attempting to find a text aimed at beginning medical students, preferably something at your own intellect level.
Is the book focused on a specific medical area?
There are several texts which offer a terminology specialty and texts that are more general. More general texts will focus on providing a foundation for students to build upon. This includes starting with fundamentals like root words and suffixes.
Is this a pocket guide that can be carried with me, or will I need to leave this text at home?
It’s essential to understand if you are looking for a book that you can carry around with you, you will need to pay attention to the size of the text. You don’t want a giant resource if you are looking for something which you can refer to while working or while in class. It’s also important to note that pocket guides or smaller texts will not provide as much in-depth information as a more massive stand-alone textbook.
These are all valid questions that you should be asking yourself before purchasing a medical dictionary book. Though this may not be the range of the questions you need to determine if a textbook is right for you, it is a great start.
Wrapping Up the Best Medical Terminology Books
There are several texts which are available to you when searching for an exceptional Medical Terminology textbook. Choosing the right textbook can make or break the amount of information which you are able to retain. The books on this can be used as reference material or in conjunction with your medical terminology coursework.
There are several questions that you can ask yourself before purchasing a textbook. These questions include, “is this book focused on a specific medical area?” or “what level is the book aimed at?” These sample questions allow students to gauge a better understanding of what they need and should be looking for.
One of the most recommended texts for medical terminology include Medical Terminology: The Best and Most Effective Way to Memorize, Pronounce, and Understand Medical Terms. This text is an excellent workbook for building a foundation of medical terminology and building on it. Another great option would be Medical Terminology for Health Professions.
Ehrlich’s option provides a clear overview at the start of each chapter so that students understand and can prepare for what is to come. It does a great job of making sure that crucial information takes center stage and is readily available to students. One book which can be used for more casual learners is Medical Terminology for Dummies.
For Dummies, once against brings students a book that is easy to comprehend and great for the professional or the casual learner. There is something in this for everyone. This includes references, small resources, and even materials for the casual learner. Whichever book you choose, you will not be disappointed.
If you found this helpful, we go over a ton of the best medical books to use here.
