Standardizing Korean Medical Terminology: An Analysis of Major Organ and Bone Terms

In Korea, the terms included in the 6th edition of the Medical Terminology published by the Korean Medical Association are currently recognized as standard terms. However, this glossary contains both traditional Japanese-Chinese character terms and pure Korean medical terms, making it difficult for students in the health and medical fields to learn. In this study, we investigated the frequency of use of seven terms referring to major organs and parts of the human body and eight names of major human bones using Google Scholar searches. The results of the study shows that the average usage rate of pure Korean terms referring to organs and parts of the human body was 31(±28)%. The average usage rate of pure Korean terms in the names of bones was 24(±14)%, and the pure Korean term for “humerus” showed the lowest usage rate at less than 10%. In order to promote the development of health and medical studies and industries, it is necessary to simplify the standard terminology by deleting terms with low usage frequency. To this end, it is believed that investigating the frequency of use of medical terms through Google Scholar searches will be very useful.