CLASSIC 47Medical Terminology: Origins, Nature, and Practice
Classics · 5 units · Undergraduate lower division (0-99)
Introduction to specialized vocabulary of health sciences, which is rooted in Greek and Roman languages and in those two cultures from which much of history of modern medicine is derived. Students gain working knowledge of fundamental terminology used in medicine and health sciences as well as how this terminology has been composed. Development of ability to interpret and pronounce words. Students apply linguistic rules and how they operate in English and field-specific vocabulary to understand new terminology in various health science fields. Study of etymological origins of fundamental terminology as mnemonic aid for learning and recalling this terminology, and also to serve as mechanism for connecting health/medical professions to humanistic origins.
P/NP or letter grading.
When it runs
- Winter 2026
- Summer 2026
- Fall 2026
- Winter 2027
Scheduled, not typical — from UCLA’s Schedule of Classes, which publishes Fall 2025 through Spring 2027 and nothing before it.
Requisites
UCLA lists no requisites for this course.
Requires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
Nothing — this is an entry point.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
No course in the catalog lists this as a requisite.