ETYMOLOGICAL AWARENESS AS A PEDAGOGICAL STRATEGY FOR ENHANCING MEDICAL TERMINOLOGY ACQUISITION: A THEORETICAL REVIEW

Medical terminology is a critical component of professional competence in healthcare, with the majority of terms derived from Latin and Greek. Traditional pedagogical approaches often emphasize rote memorization, which may limit comprehension and retention. This theoretical review explores the role of etymological awareness as a pedagogical strategy to enhance medical terminology acquisition among medical students. Drawing on research from vocabulary acquisition, morphological awareness, and medical education, the study highlights how understanding Latin roots, prefixes, and suffixes can facilitate cognitive processing and improve lexical retention. The analysis reveals that integrating etymology-based instruction into medical curricula supports deeper learning, analytical skills, and long-term vocabulary mastery. The study concludes with theoretical implications for curriculum design and recommendations for future empirical research.