Connie Gibson

Engaging students when teaching Medical Terminology

In my class I use a variety of teaching methods such as; Medical Term Bingo with Bingo cards that have word parts on them and a highlighter as the marker the students may have as many cards as they like, the more cards the more word parts they learn. I also give out small prizes like pencils and inexpensive school supplies that I find at the Dollar Store. Some other activities are individual class presentations to build student confidence in speaking sometimes hearing the subject matter from each other help them to retain the information easier. I assign group projects that are fun, they resently participated in building a skeleton which gave them a better understanding of the the bones and joints and how they function and connect also they learned how important it is to function as a team in the work enviroment. They also was given an individual project to do for the Muscular System. I created a puzzle of the anterior and posterior view of the major muscles each student had a different view, they had to glue the pieces back together as in the diagram in the book and then label each major muscle. The objective was to learn the major muscles for their Quiz. I try many different things to engage my students and to keep them interested in the subject matter as well as help them to learn and remember medical terms which are indeed a foreign language for new medical students. Yes it is very time consuming for me but it helps my students to learn, it helps with retention and it keeps them interested. I always give them a reason why I am giving the assignment it may even be as simple as to learn a new skill that will be useful for them in their new careers when dealing with doctors, nurses or the patient population because everything they do is a will be a useful learning experience for their new career.