In Module 2, we expand our focus to learn about abbreviations and terms used in the hospital environment. You will tour a modern U.S. clinical unit and visit the bedside of three patients. These vicarious bedside experiences will help you to imagine the context in which the terms and abbreviations are used. Making associations of the terms or abbreviations to specific people, places or types of patients will help to “set” them in your memory. Begin Module 2 by previewing the complex medical terms you will find in this lesson and sharpening your skills for analyzing the structure of complex terms.

In Module 3, I share more strategies toward discovering the meaning of complex medical/scientific words. The focus is on three essential clinical topics: abbreviations used in emergency situations, the timing and route of medications, and the administration of intravenous infusions. Learning about abbreviations related to medication and intravenous fluid administration requires that you pay close attention.

This module turns the focus to the acronyms commonly substituted for the name of diseases and conditions of the bodily systems. To help you relate the disease and its acronym, we have organized the diseases according to systems of the body. First letters of words or syllables usually form the acronym, and commonly at least one letter relates to a system of the body.

The lecture for this module focuses on the important aspects of patient safety when using abbreviations. The readings focus on laboratory tests and diagnostic procedures. A patient-case approach is used to help you make associations between diseases and the tests or procedures typically required.

As you worked through Modules 1-5 you have learned about abbreviations and terms used every day in clinical practice. Now you are ready to use your new knowledge and test your comprehension skills. In this module, you see and hear clinical conversation in reality-based video simulations.