Deciding between the Level 2 and Level 3 Medical Terminology qualifications

How to decide between Level 2 and Level 3 Mediterm Medical Terminology qualifications….

It’s a question we get asked a lot and quite simply there is no easy answer!

Let’s start with the facts about each course:

Level 2:

•         Full Title: Mediterm Intermediate Award in Medical Terminology (Level 2)
•         Studied over 12 weeks
•         Great for the beginner to medical terminology as all terms can be broken down and worked out by the student
•         Requires 6-8 hours of revision per week 
•        Terms mostly broken down easily and follow set rules

Level 3:

•         Full Title: Mediterm Advanced Certificate in Medical Terminology (Level 3)
•         Studied over 20 weeks
•         Can be studied without previously completing Level 2 but this is quite a big ask, a lot of course material to cover, not all words can be broken down so more rote learning required
•         Requires 8-10 hours of revision per week  
•         Large number of medical abbreviations to learn

So now we know the facts, it’s also a case of knowing your learning style, how long it’s been since you last studied, your motivation for obtaining the qualification and whether you can commit to the recommended hours.

One thing is for sure, having the Level 2 or Level 3 qualification will be a huge asset to your CV making you more efficient, less likely to make errors in your work, more likely to question something that doesn’t read correctly, improved communications with healthcare professionals, medics and patients and finally overall increased job satisfaction, we all spend a lot of time at work so it’s important to love what we do – understanding the language being used around you means things start to make sense all of a sudden and shows us that medical terminology really is a fascinating language!!