Week 3 – Discussion Board 2

[Art Liebl]

Why, as a medical interpreter, would it be helpful to know and understand the suffixes and prefixes used in medical terminology? Reply to two fellow students by Monday.

[Emily Arias-Perez]

Prefixes help healthcare professionals and patients understand the meaning of medical terms more clearly. Prefixes are word parts that appear at the beginning of medical terms. This is helpful because prefixes provide additional information about the root word, such as its location, quantity, or condition.

Suffixes are word parts added to the end of medical terms to modify their meaning. This is helpful because understanding medical suffixes can help you interpret medical terms more accurately and gain a deeper understanding of medical conditions and treatments.

[Alejandra Gana]

Hi Emily, I agree with your post!

[Brian Pacheco]

Completely agree with your post!

[Luanna Vieira Rosa]

Good explination!

[Dayane Malone]

I agree with you Emily. It’s important understanding medical suffixes.

[Alejandra Gana]

As a medical interpreter it is important and helpful to understand the suffixes and prefixes in medical terminology. Prefixes help medical professionals understand that the unit of the meaning is attached to the front of a word. It is helpful to understand this as a prefix is typically short and changes the meaning of the root. It often indicates the location or amount.
A suffix is also helpful to know as a professional as it is attached to the end of the word. It is attached to the end of a word as it explains their meaning. When used in medical terms, suffixes turn the words into a diagnosis or procedure.

[Brian Pacheco]

Great explanation!

[Luanna Vieira Rosa]

You explained this well!

[Emily Arias-Perez]

Love how you explained it.

[Judy Guarin]

awesome! Great explanation

[Shannelys Guzman]

What a fantastic explanation! Great job

[Brian Pacheco]

It would be very helpful as a Medical Interpreter to know and understand the suffixes and prefixes used in medical terminology for many reasons. Knowing these may allow you as the interpreter to understand the word better and therefore be able to interpret more accurately and may also provide better communication between you and the patient or provider as you will be able to more thoroughly explain what you are saying. Prefixes (the root or core of the word’s meaning) are word parts that appear at the beginning of medical terms. This is helpful because prefixes provide additional information about the root word, such as its location, number, time, or status. Whereas suffixes are word parts added to the end of medical terms to modify their meaning, usually turning the words into a procedure, condition, disease, or part of speech.

[Dayane Malone]

I agree knowing this helps interpreters understand the word better.

[Shannelys Guzman]

Very good point made Brian like the way you explained with examples what suffixes and prefixes are

[Luanna Vieira Rosa]

It is very helpful and useful to understand prefixes and suffixes because they help you figure out what medical terms mean. Even if you haven’t heard a word before, prefixes or suffixes help you better understand what the doctor is talking about. It also helps avoid mistakes when explaining things to patients and makes interpreting smoother and more accurate.

[Emily Arias-Perez]

Great Explanation!

[Judy Guarin]

Yes absolutely, Very well explained!

[Judy Guarin]

As a medical interpreter, I think it’s really helpful to know the prefixes and suffixes in medical terminology because it makes our job a lot easier and more accurate. Sometimes Dr’s use words we might not hear every day, or are familiar with, but if we understand the parts of the words, we can figure out what they mean. For example, if we know that neuro refers to nerves and logy means the study of something, then neurology makes total sense even if it’s a new term. It also helps us avoid mistakes during an interpretation. Misunderstanding even one word can change the meaning of what the Dr. is saying, which could confuse the Patient.

[Dayane Malone]

For a medical interpreter understanding prefixes and suffixes is a very useful skill to have. Medical terms can be complicated, and full of words that most people never hear in their everyday life. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals often use these terms when describing conditions, procedures, or treatments. If an interpreter can recognize the smaller parts that make up these words, it becomes a lot easier to understand their meaning and interpret them correctly for the patient.
Prefixes and suffixes are like puzzle pieces that gives clues about what a medical word means. For example, the prefix hyper- means “too much” or “above normal,” and hypo- means “too little” or “below normal.” So when an interpreter hears hypertension or hypoglycemia, they can quickly understand these words refer to high blood pressure and low blood sugar. Similarly, the suffix -itis means inflammation, so words like bronchitis or dermatitis instantly suggest an infection or irritation in a specific part of the body.
Knowing these word parts also helps interpreters stay calm and confident in environments like hospitals or emergency rooms. Even if they’ve never heard a term before they can use their knowledge of prefixes and suffixes to make an educated guess about its meaning. This not only improves accuracy but also helps avoid dangerous misunderstandings that could affect a patient’s care.
Summarizing, learning medical prefixes and suffixes gives interpreters a strong foundation for understanding medical language. It allows them to translate more accurately, communicate more clearly, and build trust with both healthcare providers and patients. This knowledge makes their work smoother and faster.

[Shannelys Guzman]

As a Medical interpreter it would be very useful to know and understand the suffixes and prefixes in medical terminology. When serving as an interpreter we are in medical practices accompanying patients and providers so they on the same page. This is where medical terminology is utilized and we may not always know what they are saying so this allows the words to be broken into parts to make sense of it and inform other party what is being said. If we learn suffixes and prefixes it gives us a chance to help more waste less time because we didn’t know the meaning of the word. Also if we don’t know suffixes or prefixes we are at risk for providing incorrect information to either party.

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