22 Medical Terminology Practice Questions & Answers

1. 1. A surgical report mentions a "colostomy." In medical word building, what does the suffix -ostomy indicate?

   • A.A surgically created opening (a stoma) between an organ and the body surface✓ Answer
   • B.A visual examination performed with a lighted instrument
   • C.The surgical removal of an organ or part of one
   • D.An incision, or cutting into, an organ

   The suffix -ostomy carries the element meaning "mouth/opening," so it names a surgically created opening, as in colostomy or tracheostomy. It must be distinguished from -otomy (cutting into), -ectomy (cutting out/removal) and -oscopy (looking inside); decoding by word part is what lets an interpreter recognize an unfamiliar term and choose an accurate rendering instead of guessing.

   Source: Standard medical word-building conventions for the suffixes -otomy, -ectomy, -ostomy and -oscopy, as presented in MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine medical terminology guidanceReport a problem with this question

2. 2. While interpreting, you hear the physician say the child has "hepatomegaly," a term you have not encountered before. Decoding the word by its parts, what does it MOST likely mean?

   • A.Enlargement of the liver✓ Answer
   • B.Inflammation of the liver
   • C.An imaging study of the liver
   • D.Surgical removal of part of the liver

   The combining form hepat/o means liver and the suffix -megaly means enlargement, so the term denotes an enlarged liver; inflammation would be -itis, removal -ectomy, and an imaging record -graphy or -gram. Word-part analysis gives the interpreter a working meaning on the spot, though the professional practice is still to verify the term afterward against a credible reference and add it to a glossary.

   Source: Standard medical word-building conventions (combining form hepat/o, suffix -megaly) and MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine term definitions; CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, healthcare terminology content area (managing terminology and evaluating resources)Report a problem with this question

3. 3. A hospitalist tells the patient the admitting diagnosis is "cholecystitis." What does this term mean?

   • A.Surgical removal of the gallbladder
   • B.Inflammation of the gallbladder✓ Answer
   • C.Formation of stones in the kidney
   • D.Inflammation of the urinary bladder

   Chol/e refers to bile, cyst/o to a sac or bladder, and -itis means inflammation, so cholecystitis is inflammation of the gallbladder (the bile sac); removal of that organ would be cholecystectomy. Because -itis, -ectomy and -osis change the meaning of the same root completely, an interpreter who hears only the root risks rendering a diagnosis as a surgery.

   Source: Standard medical word-building conventions (chol/e, cyst/o, suffix -itis) and MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine definition of cholecystitisReport a problem with this question

4. 4. In the emergency department a nurse reports that the patient "is bradycardic." What is being described?

   • A.An abnormally slow heart rate✓ Answer
   • B.Abnormally low blood pressure
   • C.An abnormally fast heart rate
   • D.An irregular heart rhythm

   The prefix brady- means slow and cardi/o refers to the heart, so bradycardia is a slow heart rate; its opposite prefix tachy- (fast) gives tachycardia, while an irregular rhythm is an arrhythmia and low blood pressure is hypotension. Prefixes of speed, excess and deficiency (brady-/tachy-, hyper-/hypo-) reverse a term's meaning, so mishearing one prefix inverts the message.

   Source: Standard medical word-building conventions (prefixes brady- and tachy-, root cardi/o) and MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine definition of bradycardiaReport a problem with this question

5. 5. During a gastroenterology visit the physician says: "Given the bleeding, I'm going to schedule you for a colonoscopy." To interpret this accurately, the interpreter must understand that a colonoscopy is:

   • A.An examination of the lower intestinal tract (the large intestine) using a flexible lighted instrument✓ Answer
   • B.An X-ray study of the abdomen
   • C.The surgical removal of a section of the large intestine
   • D.An examination of the esophagus and stomach

   Col/o refers to the colon and -oscopy means visual examination with an instrument, so a colonoscopy is a diagnostic exploration of the lower intestinal tract, not a surgery and not an upper endoscopy of the esophagus and stomach. Two distinctions carried by the word parts are routinely tested and routinely mis-rendered: exploratory/diagnostic versus surgical, and upper versus lower tract.

   Source: MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine description of colonoscopy; standard word-building conventions (col/o, -oscopy versus -ectomy)Report a problem with this question

6. 6. An orthopedic surgeon says: "The fracture is distal to the elbow." How should the interpreter understand "distal" here?

   • A.On the opposite side of the body from the elbow
   • B.Farther from the trunk than the elbow is, that is, toward the hand✓ Answer
   • C.Closer to the trunk than the elbow is
   • D.On the front (palm-side) surface of the arm

   Directional terms are defined relative to the body: distal means farther from the point of attachment or the trunk, while proximal means nearer to it, and anterior/posterior and ipsilateral/contralateral describe different axes entirely. Because these pairs locate an injury or an incision, substituting one for the other changes the clinical content of the message.

   Source: Standard anatomical directional terminology (proximal/distal, anterior/posterior, ipsilateral/contralateral) as defined in MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine anatomy referencesReport a problem with this question

7. 7. A nurse instructs the patient: "Place one tablet sublingually and let it dissolve." What route of administration is being described?

   • A.Swallowed whole with water
   • B.Placed between the cheek and the gum
   • C.Injected under the skin
   • D.Under the tongue✓ Answer

   Sub- means under and lingu/o means tongue, so sublingual administration is placement under the tongue; subcutaneous is under the skin, buccal is against the inner cheek, and oral means swallowed. Route words are built from the same prefixes and roots as anatomy terms, and rendering the route inaccurately can change how a patient actually takes a medication.

   Source: Standard word-building conventions (prefix sub-, root lingu/o) and MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine descriptions of medication administration routesReport a problem with this question

8. 8. A pre-operative nurse tells the patient's family, "He'll be NPO after midnight." What is the MOST appropriate way for the interpreter to handle the abbreviation?

   • A.Repeat the letters "NPO" as spoken, since abbreviations are technical terms that should not be altered
   • B.Omit the abbreviation, since the fasting instruction will appear on the written discharge sheet
   • C.Interpret the full meaning the abbreviation stands for — nothing to eat or drink by mouth — because the letters themselves convey no meaning to a listener who cannot decode them✓ Answer
   • D.Interpret the abbreviation and then explain to the family why fasting is required before anesthesia

   An abbreviation is shorthand for a phrase in one language; transferring meaning accurately means rendering what it stands for, since the letters are not a word in the other language and carry no information to a listener who cannot expand them. Adding the clinical rationale for fasting, by contrast, would be an addition the speaker did not make — if the interpreter is unsure what an abbreviation stands for, the correct step is to ask the speaker transparently.

   Source: NCIHC National Standards of Practice, accuracy standard requiring complete and accurate rendering without additions, omissions or substitutions; CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, healthcare terminology content area (abbreviations and acronyms)Report a problem with this question

9. 9. A patient is referred to a specialist for a thyroid disorder and diabetes management. Which specialty deals with disorders of the endocrine glands and hormones?

   • A.Gastroenterology
   • B.Rheumatology
   • C.Nephrology
   • D.Endocrinology✓ Answer

   Endocrin/o refers to the glands that secrete hormones internally, so endocrinology covers thyroid disease, diabetes and other hormonal disorders; rheumatology treats joint and connective-tissue disease, nephrology the kidneys, and gastroenterology the digestive tract. Specialty names are built from the body-system root plus -logy, so recognizing the root tells the interpreter which system and which clinic is meant.

   Source: Standard medical word-building conventions (system root plus -logy) and MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine descriptions of medical specialtiesReport a problem with this question

10. 10. At a dental clinic the hygienist tells the patient he has early "periodontal disease." What does this term refer to?

    • A.Misalignment of the teeth and the bite
    • B.Disease of the gums and the tissues and bone that support the teeth✓ Answer
    • C.Decay of the hard outer surface of the tooth
    • D.Inflammation of the joint that connects the jaw to the skull

    Peri- means around and odont/o means tooth, so periodontal disease is disease of the structures around the tooth — gums, ligament and supporting bone — as distinct from dental caries, which is decay of the tooth itself. Dental vocabulary is an explicitly named part of healthcare terminology and is frequently under-studied by candidates who prepare only in general medicine.

    Source: Standard word-building conventions (prefix peri-, root odont/o) and MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine definitions of periodontal disease and dental cariesReport a problem with this question

11. 11. In a behavioral health evaluation the psychiatrist dictates that the patient "has a flat affect." What does this describe?

    • A.The patient reported a persistently low mood
    • B.The patient's speech was rapid and pressured
    • C.The patient's thinking was disorganized and hard to follow
    • D.The patient showed very little outward emotional expression in face, voice and gestures✓ Answer

    In mental health terminology, affect is the emotional expression an examiner observes, while mood is the internal state the patient reports; a flat affect therefore describes an observed absence of expressive display, not a reported feeling. Confusing the two collapses an observation into a self-report, which changes the clinical record, so mental and behavioral health vocabulary must be controlled as precisely as anatomical terms.

    Source: MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine mental health terminology distinguishing affect (observed expression) from mood (reported internal state); CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, healthcare terminology content area (mental and behavioral health terms)Report a problem with this question

12. 12. A speech-language pathologist explains that because of the patient's "dysphagia," the dietitian will order a pureed diet. What does dysphagia mean?

    • A.Difficulty swallowing✓ Answer
    • B.Loss of appetite
    • C.Painful or difficult digestion
    • D.Difficulty producing or forming speech

    Dys- means difficult or impaired and -phagia comes from the root for eating or swallowing, so dysphagia is difficulty swallowing — which is why the diet texture is modified. It is easily confused with the near-look-alike dysphasia (impaired language) and with dyspepsia (difficult digestion), so an interpreter should listen for the exact word and ask the speaker to repeat it rather than infer from context.

    Source: Standard word-building conventions (prefix dys-, suffix -phagia) and MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine definitions of dysphagia, dysphasia and dyspepsiaReport a problem with this question

13. 13. A pulmonologist tells the patient that the disease process is "damaging the alveoli." What are the alveoli?

    • A.The filtering units of the kidney
    • B.The large airways that carry air from the windpipe into each lung
    • C.The tiny air sacs in the lungs where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged✓ Answer
    • D.The valves that control blood flow through the heart

    The alveoli are the microscopic air sacs at the end of the respiratory tree, and gas exchange with the blood takes place across their walls; the large conducting airways are the bronchi, the kidney's filtering units are nephrons, and the heart has valves. Knowing the principal structure of each body system and its function lets the interpreter place an unfamiliar term in the right system instead of transferring it blindly.

    Source: MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine respiratory system anatomy and physiology (alveoli and gas exchange)Report a problem with this question

14. 14. After the patient's surgery, the family is told she is "in the PACU." What is this unit?

    • A.The unit where labor and delivery take place
    • B.The area where patients arrive for emergency evaluation and triage
    • C.The area where a patient is monitored while waking from anesthesia immediately after surgery✓ Answer
    • D.The unit for critically ill patients who need continuous life support and monitoring

    PACU stands for post-anesthesia care unit, the recovery area where a patient is monitored until the effects of anesthesia wear off and vital signs are stable; the ICU, ED and L&D are different units with different purposes. Department and unit names are part of health-system terminology, and interpreting the initials without their meaning leaves a family with no idea where the patient actually is.

    Source: MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine descriptions of hospital units and surgical recovery; CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, healthcare terminology content area (health-system terminology, departments and provider roles)Report a problem with this question

15. 15. On a hospital ward, a family member asks the interpreter to convey a question to "the attending." In a U.S. teaching hospital, who is the attending physician?

    • A.A fully trained physician who holds ultimate responsibility for the patient's care and supervises physicians in training✓ Answer
    • B.A physician who is still completing supervised training after medical school
    • C.The staff member who schedules the patient's appointments and follow-up visits
    • D.The nurse assigned to the patient for that shift

    The attending is the credentialed physician with final responsibility for the patient's care; residents and fellows are physicians in training who work under that supervision, and nurses and schedulers hold different roles entirely. Provider roles are health-system terminology, and rendering them accurately is what lets a family direct a question to the person who can actually answer it — the interpreter conveys the question rather than deciding who should receive it.

    Source: CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, healthcare terminology and U.S. health systems content areas (roles and responsibilities of healthcare providers and staff); MedlinePlus/National Library of Medicine descriptions of physician roles in teaching hospitalsReport a problem with this question

16. 16. At intake, a patient describes her symptom using a common folk expression from her community that, rendered word for word, means roughly "my nerves have fallen." There is no biomedical term that matches it exactly. What is the MOST appropriate action for the interpreter?

    • A.Render the patient's expression as faithfully as possible and, because it has no direct equivalent, state transparently to both parties that this is a folk expression in the patient's community so the provider can ask follow-up questions✓ Answer
    • B.Ask the patient privately what she really means and then report the interpreter's conclusion to the provider
    • C.Omit the phrase, since a folk expression has no clinical meaning and will only confuse the provider
    • D.Replace the expression with the closest biomedical diagnosis so the provider receives clinically usable information

    Converting a patient's own words into a diagnosis substitutes the interpreter's clinical inference for the patient's message and takes a decision that belongs to the provider; the message must be rendered as spoken. Where a term has no equivalent, the interpreter may establish equivalence with a brief descriptive rendering, but does so transparently and to all parties — a private side conversation with the patient removes the provider from an exchange that is part of the clinical history.

    Source: NCIHC National Standards of Practice, accuracy standard on rendering messages without adding, omitting or substituting, and transparency standard requiring the interpreter to announce clarifications to all parties; CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, healthcare terminology content area (culturally specific medical terms and establishing equivalence)Report a problem with this question

17. 17. A cardiologist tells a patient with limited formal schooling: "We need to rule out a myocardial infarction." The interpreter is confident the patient will not understand the term. What is the MOST appropriate action?

    • A.Interpret the sentence faithfully in the same register and, if the patient's comprehension appears lacking, transparently ask the physician to re-express the term in plainer language✓ Answer
    • B.Interpret the sentence faithfully and then add a short definition of the term for the patient's benefit
    • C.Interpret the sentence faithfully and, after the visit, explain the term to the patient in the waiting area
    • D.Interpret the term as "heart attack" so that the patient is sure to understand what is being discussed

    The interpreter is required to replicate the speaker's register, style and tone; substituting a simpler expression for a technical term the provider chose — or adding a definition of one's own — changes the message and quietly transfers the provider's communication duty to the interpreter. The sanctioned remedy is to render the term faithfully and ask the speaker, openly and to both parties, to re-express it in language the other party can understand, which keeps the explanation with the clinician who is accountable for it.

    Source: NCIHC National Standards of Practice, accuracy standard requiring the interpreter to replicate register and to ask the speaker to re-express rather than substitute simpler explanations for the provider's medical termsReport a problem with this question

18. 18. A patient tells the physician: "My ticker's been acting up, and I get winded just going up the stairs." How should the interpreter render this for the physician?

    • A.In equivalent everyday, informal language, keeping the colloquial flavor the patient used✓ Answer
    • B.By asking the patient first to restate the complaint in medical terms
    • C.As a brief summary such as "the patient reports cardiac symptoms," to save time
    • D.Using the clinical equivalents — palpitations and exertional dyspnea — so the physician receives precise information

    Register must be preserved in both directions: elevating a patient's colloquial description into clinical terminology adds precision the patient did not express and can mask how the patient actually experiences and reports the problem, which is itself clinically relevant. Summarizing is never a legitimate mode of interpreting, and instructing the patient to speak in medical terms shifts the interpreter into a role that belongs to the clinician conducting the interview.

    Source: NCIHC National Standards of Practice, accuracy standard requiring the interpreter to render messages completely and to replicate the register, style and tone of the speakerReport a problem with this question

19. 19. A provider uses a health-system term for which the interpreter knows the target language has no direct equivalent. What is the MOST appropriate way to handle it?

    • A.Establish equivalence with a brief descriptive rendering of the concept, telling both parties that there is no direct equivalent and asking the speaker for clarification if the concept is not fully clear✓ Answer
    • B.Skip the term and continue, since an untranslatable term cannot be conveyed accurately anyway
    • C.Say the term in the source language without comment and let the listener ask about it if it matters
    • D.Use the target-language word that sounds most similar, since the listener will infer the rest from context

    Establishing linguistic equivalence for a term that has no direct counterpart is an explicit interpreter skill, and it is the one sanctioned occasion for expanding a term — provided it is done transparently so both parties know what happened and can correct it. Choosing a similar-sounding word invites a false-cognate error, omission destroys accuracy, and leaving the term unexplained shifts the burden onto a listener who may not know that they missed something.

    Source: CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, healthcare terminology content area (establishing equivalence for terms lacking a direct interpretation); NCIHC National Standards of Practice, accuracy and transparency standardsReport a problem with this question

20. 20. In the middle of a consultation the physician uses a term the interpreter simply does not know. What is the MOST appropriate action?

    • A.Pause the exchange and announce in the third person to both parties that the interpreter needs clarification, then ask the physician to explain or repeat the term✓ Answer
    • B.Substitute a broader, more general word that covers roughly the same area of meaning
    • C.Omit the term and interpret the rest of the sentence, since the overall message will still come through
    • D.Make the best guess from context, continue, and look the term up after the encounter

    Managing unfamiliar terms while maintaining transparency is a core interpreting task: guessing, omitting and substituting a broader word are the three classic forms of message distortion, and none of them is visible to the parties, who then cannot catch the error. Announcing the need for clarification in the third person keeps both parties informed that the interpreter — not the patient or the provider — is the one asking, which preserves transparency and the parties' control over their own communication.

    Source: CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, managing the interpreting encounter content area (managing unfamiliar terms and concepts while maintaining transparency); NCIHC National Standards of Practice, transparency standard on announcing clarification requests in the third personReport a problem with this question

21. 21. False cognates — words that closely resemble each other across two languages but carry different meanings — are a recognized hazard in healthcare interpreting. What is the MOST appropriate professional response to this hazard?

    • A.Keep the source-language word unchanged whenever two words resemble each other, so no meaning can be lost
    • B.Rely on the resemblance, because words that look alike across languages usually do share a meaning
    • C.Treat surface resemblance as unreliable and interpret on the basis of verified meaning, checking with the speaker or a credible terminology resource whenever there is doubt✓ Answer
    • D.Ask the patient which of the possible meanings he or she prefers

    Accuracy is a duty about meaning, not about form, so a word's resemblance to one in another language is never evidence of what it means; the discipline is to work from a verified definition and to use credible terminology resources, evaluating their reliability. Where doubt remains during an encounter, the interpreter asks the speaker transparently — the patient is not a terminology authority and should not be asked to choose among possible renderings.

    Source: CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, healthcare terminology content area (evaluating the credibility of terminology resources; managing terminology); NCIHC National Standards of Practice, accuracy standardReport a problem with this question

22. 22. A clinic nurse tells the patient: "Dr. Ramos isn't in today, but the surgeon on call can see you." What does the everyday expression "on call" mean here?

    • A.The surgeon who is currently operating in the operating room
    • B.The surgeon scheduled to be available to respond to urgent needs during this period, including outside regular working hours✓ Answer
    • C.The surgeon who can be reached only by telephone and does not examine patients in person
    • D.The surgeon who originally accepted this patient's case

    "On call" is general workplace vocabulary, not a clinical term: it means designated to be reachable and to respond when needed during a given period, often outside scheduled hours, and the surgeon does see patients. Idiomatic and general vocabulary used in healthcare settings is tested alongside anatomy, because an interpreter who renders such a phrase literally can leave a patient believing no one is available to treat them.

    Source: CCHI CoreCHI examination outline, healthcare terminology content area (general vocabulary and idioms used in healthcare settings); standard U.S. healthcare workplace usage of "on call"Report a problem with this question

Practice questions based on the CCHI CoreCHI exam content areas, the National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Health Care, and the National Standards of Practice for Interpreters in Health Care. CoreCHI and CHI are marks of the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters; this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by CCHI or NCIHC. The core exam is language-neutral, so these questions test general professional principles rather than any single language pair. Language-access requirements are summarized here only as durable principles; confirm current federal guidance, your state's rules, and your facility's language-access policy before relying on them, and confirm current eligibility and exam requirements with the certifying body. About the CoreCHI exam →