Medical Glossary: Key Terms from Medicine and Medical School A to Z
28.08.2026
How this glossary is structured
Every entry follows the same structure: a short, self-contained definition, the word origin from Latin or Greek, common synonyms, the English technical term, and an explanation of why the term matters during the degree or in daily clinical work.
The terms are organised into seven areas: medical terminology, anatomy, clinical practice, medical school in Germany, examinations and qualifications, studying medicine abroad, and recognition and access to the profession. The glossary keeps growing.
Medical terminology: understanding the building blocks
Medical terminology is a modular system. Anyone who knows the prefixes and suffixes can work out unfamiliar terms for themselves, which saves countless hours of rote learning during the degree.
- Terminologia Anatomica – the international index of anatomical terms
- -itis – the suffix for inflammation
- -ectomy – surgical removal, distinguished from -tomy and -stomy
- -scopy – examination by scope, distinguished from -graphy and -metry
- -algia – the suffix for pain
- hyper- – too much, increased
- hypo- – too little, decreased
Anatomical terms of position and direction
Without these terms no finding can be described precisely. They always relate to the standard anatomical position and therefore apply to a supine patient as well.
- proximal and distal – nearer to and further from the trunk
- medial and lateral – towards the midline and to the side
- ventral and dorsal – towards the belly and towards the back
- cranial and caudal – towards the head and towards the tail
- sagittal plane, frontal plane and transverse plane – the three main planes
Clinical practice
Terms you need from your very first patient onwards.
- Patient history (Anamnese) – the structured taking of a medical history
This section is being expanded continuously. If you want to know what your route into medical school could look like in concrete terms, arrange a free consultation.
{{cta}}Medical school in Germany: the key terms
- Numerus clausus – the admission cutoff and current figures
- Hochschulstart – the central allocation body
- TMS – the aptitude test for medical degrees and the new TMSnat
- Rural doctor quota – a study place in exchange for a ten-year commitment
- Enrolment (Immatrikulation) – registering at the university
- Preclinical phase (Vorklinik) – the first part of the degree
- Standard period of study – six years and three months
- Weekly semester hour – the measure of contact time
- Practical year – the final year of the degree
- Famulatur – four months of compulsory clinical placement
Examinations and qualifications
- Physikum – the first section of the state medical examination
- State examination – the three sections at a glance
- Testat – the continuous in-semester assessment
- Colloquium – the oral examination in conversational format
- Compulsory deregistration – definitive failure and its nationwide effect
Studying medicine abroad
- ECTS – 360 credits for the full medical degree
- Transcript of Records – the basis of every credit transfer
- Study transfer – moving between universities within Europe
- Apostille – the authentication of official documents
- Auslands-BAföG – German state student finance for study abroad, up to 5.600 Euro a year
Recognition, medical licensing and access to the profession
- Approbation – the German state licence to practise medicine
- Directive 2005/36/EC – the basis of automatic recognition
- Annex V – the list of automatically recognised qualifications
- EU certificate of conformity – the core document in the procedure
- Equivalence assessment – the route for qualifications from non-EU countries
- Knowledge examination – when it is needed and when it is not
- Medical language examination – medical German at level C1
- MEBEKO – recognition in Switzerland
Why a glossary of our own
Medschool Experts was the first agency to give free insight on YouTube through near-daily videos and interviews with real medical students abroad. This glossary continues the same idea: making knowledge freely available so that everyone can make an informed decision. We are proud to have placed more than 500 students at over 25 universities, and proud that many of those routes began with a single question.
The author’s view
When I started in Sofia, the biggest stumbling block was not the material but the language around the material. Nobody explains to you on day one what a colloquium is, why a Transcript of Records has to contain hour counts, or what Annex V has to do with your later working life. You learn it, but usually too late and the uncomfortable way.
That is exactly why this glossary exists. The Latin core of medicine is identical everywhere: musculus biceps brachii means precisely the same in Sofia, Foča, Osijek and Münster. What differs is everything around it: examination formats, administrative terms, recognition routes. Anyone who understands these terms early makes better decisions and loses no semester to misunderstandings.
My advice: read your way into clarity, not into panic. And if you notice that a term concerns your specific case, whether credit transfer, a study transfer or recognition, we will clarify it in conversation rather than leaving you to guess.
Summary
- Medical terminology is a modular system of prefixes, roots and suffixes; anyone who knows the building blocks can also understand unfamiliar terms.
- Anatomical terms of position such as proximal, distal, medial and lateral always relate to the standard anatomical position and apply to a supine patient too.
- The central terms for studying in Germany are numerus clausus, Physikum, Testat, Famulatur and the practical year.
- When studying abroad, ECTS, the Transcript of Records and Directive 2005/36/EC determine what is credited and what is recognised.
- A medical degree obtained in the EU and listed in Annex V is automatically recognised in Germany, with no equivalence assessment or knowledge examination.
- The glossary keeps growing: every term has its own page with a definition, word origin and English equivalent.
Further reading
- Studying medicine without a numerus clausus: a location comparison – what each location costs and how they differ.
- The German medical licence (Approbation) and recognition of an EU medical degree – the legal framework explained in detail.
- Transferring back to Germany: credit for semesters – what ECTS and the transcript are actually worth.
- How the medical degree in Bulgaria is structured – year by year, with all the examination formats.
- Study transfer within Europe – for when you are unhappy at your current university.
Frequently Asked Questions about the medical glossary
Why is medical terminology Latin and Greek?
Because that makes it internationally unambiguous. A Latin term such as musculus biceps brachii denotes exactly the same structure worldwide, regardless of the local language. This is set down in the Terminologia Anatomica.
What does the suffix -itis mean?
The suffix -itis marks an inflammation of the organ named before it. Gastritis is inflammation of the stomach lining, appendicitis inflammation of the appendix.
What is the difference between proximal and distal?
Proximal means towards the centre of the body, distal away from it. The upper arm is proximal, the fingers are distal.
What is a Famulatur?
The Famulatur is the compulsory clinical placement during a medical degree. In Germany it comprises four months, of which at least one month must be in an outpatient setting. It can also be completed abroad.
What is the Physikum?
The Physikum is the first section of the German state medical examination, taken after the fourth semester. Many European universities have no such combined examination and instead examine subject by subject.
What is Annex V of Directive 2005/36/EC?
Annex V lists, for each EU member state, the evidence of formal qualifications that is automatically recognised. If the qualification is listed there, any assessment of equivalence in content is dispensed with.
How many ECTS credits does a medical degree carry?
The six-year medical degree comprises 360 ECTS credits, that is 60 per academic year. One credit corresponds to 25 to 30 hours of work.
What is the difference between an equivalence assessment and a knowledge examination?
The equivalence assessment is the authorities’ comparison of your training with the German degree. Where substantial differences are found, they can be made up through the knowledge examination. With an EU qualification both are dispensed with.
What does MEBEKO stand for?
MEBEKO is the Medical Professions Commission of the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health. It recognises foreign medical and dental diplomas in Switzerland.
Is the glossary being expanded?
Yes. It keeps growing with further terms from terminology, anatomy, clinical practice, dentistry and the organisation of study. Every term gets its own page.
Where do I find help if a term concerns my own case?
Questions about credit transfer, transfers, admission or recognition are something we look at individually in a free consultation.
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About the author
Marcel Kloos
Swiss-licensed dentist and founder of Medschool Experts
Marcel Kloos founded Medschool Experts while studying abroad; since then, over 500 study places have been secured. The Stuttgart-born dentist studied dentistry from 2015 to 2021 in Sofia and holds a Swiss dental licence.
Today he lives in Bern and runs Medschool Experts full-time as its owner.
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