Course Syllabus

Fall 2025 | AHS-1205-VU01 - Medical Terminology

In Person Class

Standard courses meet in person at CCV centers, typically once each week for the duration of the semester.

Faculty

Betsy McLane
View Faculty Credentials
View Faculty Statement
Hiring Coordinator for this course: Jen Guarino

Note

Many degree programs have specific general education recommendations. In order to avoid taking unnecessary classes, please consult with additional resources like your program evaluation, your academic program catalog year page, and your academic advisor.

Courses may only be used to meet one General Education Requirement.

Course Description

This course encompasses the development and use of medical vocabulary. Students learn medical terms and abbreviations to name diseases and disorders, diagnostics, and surgical procedures in the context of body systems and related health professions. Students use prefixes, word roots, combining forms, and suffixes to interpret the meaning of medical terms with the goal of reducing errors.

Essential Objectives

1. Demonstrate the use of word roots, combining forms, prefixes, and suffixes that form most medical terms.
2. Define, spell, pronounce, and employ a fundamental vocabulary of medical terms.
3. Translate medical terminology from word/terms to abbreviations and from abbreviations to word/terms.
4. Relate appropriate medical terms to structures and functions of the human body and related body systems (e.g. musculoskeletal, immune, endocrine, nervous, respiratory, cardiovascular, and digestive).
5. Identify and define medical terms related to diseases and disorders.
6. Identify and define medical terms related to diagnostic and surgical procedures.
7. Research the current use of terminology and abbreviations.
8. Use medical terms and abbreviations in context.
9. Demonstrate appropriate use of a medical dictionary and reliable online sources and cite references in APA format.
10. Explain how data and quantitative reasoning are used in healthcare professions.
11. Identify biases in healthcare, including discrimination, implicit bias, and systemic racism, and the impact they have on the health outcomes of individuals and groups.

Required Technology

More information on general computer and internet recommendations is available on the CCV computer recommendations Support page.

Please see CCV's Digital Equity Statement (pg. 45) to learn more about CCV's commitment to supporting all students access the technology they need to successfully finish their courses.

Required Textbooks and Resources

This course uses one or more textbooks/books/simulations.

Fall 2025 textbook details will be available on 2025-05-19. On that date a link will be available below that will take you to eCampus, CCV's bookstore. The information provided there will be specific to this class. Please see this page for more information regarding the purchase of textbooks/books.

AHS-1205-VU01 Link to Textbooks for this course in eCampus.

The last day to use a Financial Aid Advance to purchase textbooks/books is the 3rd Tuesday of the semester. See your financial aid counselor at your academic center if you have any questions.

Methods

This class uses a textbook, mini lectures, research and in-class collaborative learning activities

Evaluation Criteria

35% Weekly Homework & In-Class Activities

25% Quizzes: weekly quizzes (two attempts per quiz) on chapter content

25% Exams: three in-class exams on multiple chapters' content.

15% Presentations (provider interview, case study, web report)

Grading Criteria

CCV Letter Grades as outlined in the Evaluation System Policy are assigned according to the following chart:

	High	Low
A+	100	98
A	Less than 98	93
A-	Less than 93	90
B+	Less than 90	88
B	Less than 88	83
B-	Less than 83	80
C+	Less than 80	78
C	Less than 78	73
C-	Less than 73	70
D+	Less than 70	68
D	Less than 68	63
D-	Less than 63	60
F	Less than 60
P	100	60
NP	Less than 60	0

Weekly Schedule

Attendance Policy

Regular attendance and participation in classes are essential for success in and are completion requirements for courses at CCV. A student's failure to meet attendance requirements as specified in course descriptions will normally result in a non-satisfactory grade.

• In general, missing more than 20% of a course due to absences, lateness or early departures may jeopardize a student's ability to earn a satisfactory final grade.
• Attending an on-ground or synchronous course means a student appeared in the live classroom for at least a meaningful portion of a given class meeting. Attending an online course means a student posted a discussion forum response, completed a quiz or attempted some other academically required activity. Simply viewing a course item or module does not count as attendance.
• Meeting the minimum attendance requirement for a course does not mean a student has satisfied the academic requirements for participation, which require students to go above and beyond simply attending a portion of the class. Faculty members will individually determine what constitutes participation in each course they teach and explain in their course descriptions how participation factors into a student's final grade.

Missing & Late Work Policy

Please read this late work policy carefully and contact me immediately if you know there will be times during the semester when you will not be able to participate in class.

• All work is due at the start of class on the date specified unless otherwise noted.
• Graded assignments turned in after the due date & time will incur a 25% deduction for each day they are late (please note that Saturday and Sunday each count as one separate day).
• Each student will receive one “life happens” pass, which entitles them to drop one homework/in-class activity grade or quiz grade.
• Assignments that are not turned in during class can be submitted via email or Canvas
• If you know you are not able to complete an assignment before the due date please contact me BEFORE the due date to discuss the possibility of an alternative schedule. I realize that there may be a rare situation when you are unable to message me prior to the due date and will make exceptions as necessary while still maintaining equity and consistency with course policies.

Accessibility Services for Students with Disabilities:

1. Provide disability documentation to the Accessibility Coordinator at your academic center. https://ccv.edu/discover-resources/students-with-disabilities/
2. Request an appointment to meet with accessibility coordinator to discuss your request and create an accommodation plan.
3. Once created, students will share the accommodation plan with faculty. Please note, faculty cannot make disability accommodations outside of this process.

Academic Integrity

Apply Now for this semester.