Medical Latin; should I get classical?

[Dr Zoidberg]

At A level biology, knowing the literal meaning of words like Corpus Luteum and reticulum etc. helped me remember them.

Has anybody found it worthwhile getting a book on medical latin/greek for anatomy?

Thinking about buying this one:
More Latin for the Illiterati, A Guide to Medical, Legal and Religious Latin
Anyone used it or something similar?

Cheers

Zoid

[spk76]

When I told my mother I was going to med school, she thought I would also have to start learning Latin!

[S Knights]

You don't need to go out of your way to learn latin for anatomy, since all of the phrases you will need to remember are either extremely straight-forward or will crop up all of the time.

Most of it is pretty obvious anyway - e.g. Arteria profunda femoris (deep artery of the thigh), depressor anguli oris (depressor of the angle of the mouth), nothing you can't figure out or remember from the textbook.

[caster]

Originally Posted by spk76

When I told my mother I was going to med school, she thought I would also have to start learning Latin!

This did used to be a requirement for entry to medical school up until around 30ish years ago, and many members of the public believe it is still the case.

I would say that a basic understanding of Latin vocabulary is useful (though by no means essential) for anatomy (and also pathology), and I would have thought that if you have no understanding of Latin already, then a basic English/Latin dictionary could be useful. However, most of the Latin is fairly basic and if you have even a basic knowledge of Latin you should be able to translate most of it. There is no need to be able to understand Latin grammar.

I have found it useful to be able to understand that, for example, "caseous" necrosis looks like cheese, or that latissimus dorsi is wide and on the back - names that would be hard for me to learn if you just memorise them as words, but that if you understand where they are derived from, become much easier as they are just a description of the pathology/muscle. However, some people don't learn like that, and if anyone else is reading this thread who has no knowledge of Latin and no interest in languages, different people learn in different ways, and I know many people who don't find translating Latin disease and anatomical names into English really helps them remember them at all.

[Dr Zoidberg]

Originally Posted by caster

I have found it useful to be able to understand that, for example, "caseous" necrosis looks like cheese, or that latissimus dorsi is wide and on the back

Yes, I find little mnemonics like that help me remember. I’ll probably just go for a dictionary then. Anything that is going to help me remember the large amount of info that will be thrown at me in September. :wink:

Thanks for the help everyone.