About This Course

This course will utilize medical terminology, critical thinking, and assessment skills required for completion of a comprehensive health assessment. This basic course will focus on the anatomical structure and function of the human body and related terminology used to describe body parts, structure and function. Students will focus on prefixes, suffixes and word roots and practice formation, analysis, and reconstruction of terms. This course will allow individuals to develop their health history interviewing skills, therapeutic communication, and physical examination techniques for clinical practice. Students will be able to identify and analyze assessment findings to determine health concerns as a basis for planning care and treatment. An introduction to the cardiovascular system and related terminology with an emphasis on basic EKG concepts and pharmacology will be conducted. Students will learn to evaluate the role of exercise and diet in health and disease including acute and chronic effects of exercise upon the cardiovascular, respiratory, metabolic, and muscular systems. Exploration of therapeutic benefits of exercise in primary and secondary prevention for individuals with heart disease, chronic pulmonary disease, diabetes, and obesity will be assessed along with basic concepts of health promotion and risk stratification.