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The year is 1947 and I am a little girl with brown hair that is braided into pigtails. I am very shy and afraid, for, you see, I am in the second grade and I cannot read. Not one little word. The teacher discovered this and made me sit on a tall metal stool in front of the classroom with a dunce cap on my head. Still to this day, I get very nervous when I have to get up in front of a crowd of people.
My mother taught me to read because back then, there were no special classes for children with learning disabilities. I did not learn “phonetics” but memorized everything. I still have trouble pronouncing words, but I can tell you all you want to know about a medical word.
After the death of two brothers, my father, and the impending death of my mother, I prayed for something else to do, something that would help take away the pain and the hurt. In 1982, my prayers were answered with a most precious gift: Medical Terminology with Human Anatomy, which was first published in September 1985, and is now titled Medical Terminology for Healthcare Professionals.
I owe so much to God and my best friend and husband, Charles Larry Rice. God continues to guide me in my writing. He provides me the knowledge and ability to organize, research, develop, and then to write. Larry, my husband of 54 years, is supportive and gives me the freedom to be an author. He is my love and hero.
I had a wonderful teaching career, and I am forever beholden to the many wonderful students who taught me so much and touched my life with their unique qualities. I hope and pray that this 10th edition of Medical Terminology for Healthcare Professionals will enable you, the learner, to become the professional that you choose to be.
— Jane Rice, RN, CMA-C
