The fact that I have taken my time to find out more about the term will make it more retentive, but apart from that, while trying to find out more about the word I stumbled on some other medical terms like anarchism (Absence of one of both testes) e. t. c. So just like the saying goes, ‘you learn more words by learning more about words’.
The approach to learning new medical terminologies by looking them up in the dictionary or asking a Physician is quite good, but checking out a medical terminology in an English dictionary will not give the precise meaning of the term, hence, to the intended meaning of a medical term you need to check a medical dictionary. Apart from looking up the term in a medical dictionary, since the ultimate goal of learning is for better understanding and effective communication later, you should endeavor to retain what you have learnt.
Retention of a medical term is however not guaranteed just by asking a physician or checking for the dictionary meaning of the word, but by following the three “R”s of Verbal development which are: Routine, Repetition and Review. Make learning of medical terminologies a part of your daily routine, and just as the saying goes “practice makes perfect”, when it comes to retaining theses words, repetition and review are essential.
Like I mentioned earlier, these specialized vocabularies are now widespread, so there is every tendency that you will come across some in your work environment. E. g. as a Legal Secretary, “Induced abortion” which is a medical term will not be strange to you. However, the medical terms that you will find in such a work environment is relatively too few, thus you will be limiting yourself if you restrict your knowledge of medical terminologies to those that are commonly used in your field alone.
Instead, I’ll rather advice that you get a broad knowledge of these terms since your life is not restricted to your work place, and since knowing them will not make you less productive in your work, but in contrast give you an edge over your other colleagues, help you communicate effectively e. t. c. and at the end of the day make you a better person.
Reference
Davidson’s Principle & Practice of Medicine (20th edition) Sir Stanley Davidson (1894-1981) “Jargon (language)” (2007) Microsoft® Student 2008 [DVD] Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Verbal Advantage-Success edition (2005) Charles Harrington Elster.