Medical school enrollment is on the rise. The Association of American Medical Colleges reports that more than 100,000 students were enrolled in US MD-granting medical schools in the 2025–26 academic year, the first time enrollment has passed that mark. In 2022, the AAMC reported that enrollment had grown 17.8% since 2012.
If you are gearing up for med school, you probably feel overwhelmed right about now. You may be moving to a new place and meeting new people. That's not even to mention the logistical considerations like getting textbooks.
Are you searching for a medical terminology book to help you study? Medical Creations offers a medical terminology textbook and workbook. Read this guide to understand the difference between the two, who needs them, and more.
Enhance Your Learning with Our Medical Terminology Course
For anyone stepping into the medical field, mastering medical terminology is a fundamental step. Whether you’re a budding student, an established healthcare worker, or simply eager to gain more insight into medical language, our Medical Terminology Course is designed to meet your needs. This self-paced online course takes you through word roots, prefixes, suffixes and pronunciation in structured modules, with chapter quizzes to help you understand and retain complex terms.
What Can You Learn From a Medical Terminology Book?
You can learn terms for major body systems, diseases, and other conditions from a medical terminology book. Students will also learn the correct abbreviations for medical terms.
Like other spaces, the medical world has a language all its own. Learning this language helps students effectively communicate with other professionals in their space.
And medical terminology is not all about rote memorization. Instead, students will learn rules about medical terms. That way, you can recognize unfamiliar words and phrases when you do not know them already.
Terms for Major Human Body Systems
Understanding human body systems is crucial for medical students. Why? You must understand how these systems work normally to identify and diagnose issues when they work abnormally.
The major organ systems students will learn about in a medical terminology course are:
- The cardiovascular system
- The digestive system
- The endocrine system
- The integumentary system (skin)
- The lymphatic system
- The muscular system
- The nervous system
- The urinary system
- The reproductive system
- The respiratory system
- The skeletal system
Within each of these systems are groups of organs and tissues that work together to carry out bodily functions. Students will also learn terms for these organ system components.
Medical Term Abbreviations
Medical term abbreviations are important for a few reasons.
First, many medical professionals use common abbreviations in speech. You need to understand these terms to communicate effectively with your peers.
Second, abbreviations are crucial for speedy and efficient documentation. Doctors, nurses, and administrative staff must know how to record and read abbreviations on patient medical records.
Examples of commonly used medical term abbreviations are BP (blood pressure), CBC (complete blood count), and Fx (fracture).
There are also abbreviations for many common diseases and disorders. For example, myocardial infarction is MI, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is COPD, and diabetes mellitus is DM.
Medical Terminology Rules
The rules of medical terminology include root words, prefixes, and suffixes.
For example, the root word for bone is "oste," and the root word for nerves is "neur." You can see these root words in words like osteoporosis (a disease that weakens the bones) and neurologist (a doctor who specializes in diseases of the brain, spinal cord and nerves).
Prefixes are sequences of letters used before root words. Suffixes are the opposite—they appear at the end of the word. Prefixes and suffixes add meaning to the root word.
An example of a prefix is "inter," meaning between. You can see this prefix in the term "interneuron." Interneurons are nerve cells in the central nervous system that connect (i.e., sit between) other neurons, such as sensory and motor neurons.
An example of a suffix is "-ectomy," which refers to surgically removing a body part. The word "ostectomy" uses this suffix. An ostectomy is a surgical procedure used to excise part of or an entire bone.
Who Needs a Medical Terminology Book?
Anyone can buy a medical terminology book and learn. However, the authors of these books design them for medical students and other aspiring medical field professionals.
People who handle medical records may also benefit from learning medical terminology. Healthcare professionals typically use medical abbreviations in patient records. Understanding them is essential for fast reimbursement.
People who work at health insurance companies often take medical terminology courses, too.
Practitioners
Practitioners are licensed healthcare professionals. They include doctors, surgeons, and dentists. Clinical psychologists, counselors, and social workers are also practitioners in the mental health field.
These individuals often learn medical terminology in their advanced degree programs. Then, they use these terms daily on the job to speed up communication with their peers.
Additionally, many medical articles contain these terms. Practitioners need to stay up-to-date with the latest research. Knowing medical terminology makes it easier and faster to read medical journals.
Medical Administrators
Medical administrators may or may not hold licenses or advanced degrees. They are technical specialists who handle healthcare documents. These professionals include the following job roles:
- Medical office assistants
- Medical transcriptionists
- Medical coders
These professionals often handle documents containing medical terms and abbreviations. Understanding medical terminology is essential to getting the job done quickly and effectively.
Payors
Insurance company employees handle medical documents daily. These individuals may not need as deep an understanding of medical terms as practitioners and administrators.
Still, having a basic understanding can help these professionals do their jobs better.
What Are the Best Medical Terminology Books?
Medical Terminology from Medical Creations is written for students and for anyone who wishes to enter the medical field. It is also a great complementary tool for aspiring medical students and nurses preparing for the MCAT or NCLEX.
It has become the most reviewed medical terminology book on Amazon and has found its way into university courses across the United States.
This book focuses on the rules of medical terminology: breaking long words into their prefixes, roots and suffixes. The goal is to empower students with the tools they need to recognize new medical terms without having to memorize them all.
What makes this book easy to learn from? We created this textbook with readability in mind. It offers comprehensive coverage and easy-to-understand explanations, whether you are a student, a professional, or simply someone interested in medical language.
Our authors included illustrations to help break down information. Return to them when reviewing for exams or refreshing your memory.
This textbook is a clear, structured guide that moves step by step. Exercises after key chapters, with the answers at the back of the book, can help you test your understanding along the way.
Another reason to choose the Medical Terminology textbook from Medical Creations is the companion workbook, designed to complement your medical terminology textbook and give you even more practice.
Our exercise-only workbook contains plenty of questions and exercises. They come in a variety of formats, including matching columns, fill in the blanks, multiple-choice questions, true or false, and picture labeling.
Medical Terminology Textbook vs Workbook: What's the Difference?
Medical Creations' Medical Terminology textbook teaches you the language of medicine, while the Medical Terminology Workbook can help you practice what you learn.
You can use the textbook alone. Or you can combine it with the companion workbook to deepen your learning. Below, we explain three strategies for combining these materials.
How to Study With Our Medical Terminology Course Textbook and Workbook
There are three ways to combine these materials for optimum learning.
The first way is to use the workbook as a test of your existing medical terminology knowledge. This approach is best for those who have taken a medical terminology course before or have experience in the field.
Before you crack open the textbook, work through the questions in the workbook. Identify your gaps in understanding. Then tailor your textbook study approach to address these gaps.
The second way is to alternate between the two books. Read a chapter of the textbook, then use the workbook to test yourself on the terms you just studied. This approach is best for those who are new to medical terminology, because it lets you check your understanding before you move on.
The third way is to use the workbook for review. Once you have finished the textbook, come back to the workbook questions at spaced intervals, for example every few days and again before an exam. Testing yourself on material spread out over time is one of the most effective ways to retain it in the long term.