Medical Terminology Reflection/Interview

Instructions: Plan and conduct a focused interview about the real-world use of medical terminology. Write a concise but comprehensive interview report that includes the items specified below and a short personal reflection on the experience.  Purpose: Develop a real-world appreciation for how and why medical terms are used in healthcare practice. Investigate how various roles or professions may employ different sets of medical terms. Realize how using medical language with other healthcare professionals improves communication, but the same use of medical language with patients might create confusion. The Interview:     Spend 15-20 minutes interviewing a nurse or other healthcare professional about their use of medical language in their job. The interview may be in person, by phone or by internet.   To prepare for your interview and provide focus, identify several questions to ask. Here are some examples, but feel free to make up your own questions.\ How do you use medical language in your job? With whom?How does using medical terminology support your professional role? Can you share some examples of word parts, terms and abbreviations you use daily? How is medical language used in patient records? Has the use of electronic medical records affected the use of medical terminology in your job? What do you do when you encounter a term you don’t know? The Report: The interview report should include: A brief description of your interviewee, such as first name, type of job & position title, perhaps how long they have worked in healthcare, etc. The questions you asked. A summary of the interview, what you found out, and a reflection on what seemed most significant or surprising, or any other insights you had.                   Below is my reflection of my medical terminology interview

For my medical terminology report I chose to do my father, David Noyes, who has been
an AEMT for many years now. He works for the Waterville Valley Public Safety Department
which I am also employed at. He is the Director of Public Safety and Fire Chief now, but still
does EMS with the head paramedic on duty. Some of the questions were as follows: I asked him
where he used medical terminology? And he replied that they use it when communicating with
team members on an ambulance during a call. This is an efficient way of knowing what the
protocols are, what procedures they are going to do, what each team member’s role is, and during
documentation after the event. Another important thing is when talking to medical control and or
the hospital about what the ambulance is bringing in. They do not have all the time to provide a
long and detailed description. They need to be quick and direct to tell them what the problem is,
where it is, what to suspect/rule out, and when they will be there. When I work there I use
medical terminology and don’t even think I’m using it till after. Another question was what are
the most common things you would say on your daily job? He responded with things such as
hypertension, hypotension, open/closed fracture, bradycardia, tachycardia, angina, SOB, BVM,
cardiac monitor, etc. This really helps make the “diagnosis” or treatment plan because they can
use one or a couple of words to describe what is going on to one another. I did ask him about
documentation as I had only written one report before. It is all electronic and has
buttons/categories that are all medical terminology words where the EMS personnel can put their
observations and treatment interventions. This is extremely important to document correctly and
saves time when using medical terminology. You can say what is going on in a couple of
sentences in a couple of words. This way it is standardized and accurate. Lastly I asked him if
people have said things that he was unsure about? and he said yes it does happen. He hasn’t
taken medical terminology for many years and he knows the words that pertain to him, and not
as much of the others. He said that it is important to be direct and double check when someone
says something to eliminate mistakes. If he doesn’t know what it means he can ask for
clarification in simple terms. This is also something to keep in mind when communicating with
patients about what is happening and what they are doing. Explaining in simple terms with
patients makes them feel more comfortable knowing that they understand what is going on.
There is a time and place to use medical terminology. On that job you have to be able to do both.
I thought this interview was very insightful and brings a lot of light to what I am
responsible for knowing and saying when working with patients in that job. Even though I’ve
known those colleagues for some time now and feel comfortable communicating with them, it is
important to know medical terminology so if I ever work with new people like my job at the
hospital, I know how to communicate and work with them in an effective manner. I’ve taken
medical terminology before and use it in my everyday life more than I think. It has been helping
me understand what some of the nurses at the hospital are doing, which overall has helped me
learn things for nursing school already.