This paper focuses on the study of medical Chinese vocabulary within the context of Chinese language education for specific purposes. First, it examines the theoretical discussions on foreign language education for specific purposes and Chinese for specific purposes. Foreign language education for specific purposes is a language education system developed to meet the specific needs of learners, and medical Chinese can be considered as a form of Chinese aimed at careers in the medical field. Second, the paper compares and analyzes the structure, system, and vocabulary of medical Chinese textbooks. It compares the practical standard textbook for training medical interpreters with four commercially available medical Chinese textbooks, categorizing the vocabulary into medical and non-medical terms, and further classifying medical vocabulary into anatomical, treatment, and disease-related terms. The analysis reveals that commercial textbooks tend to emphasize treatment-related vocabulary, while the standard textbook maintains a balance between disease and treatment-related terms. Third, the paper analyzes Chinese characters and affixes found in medical Chinese textbooks, categorizing them into homonyms, polysemes, and partial homonyms, and presents two vocabulary teaching proposals based on this analysis. One suggestion is to categorize the vocabulary into medical and non-medical terms, and further subdivide medical vocabulary into anatomical, disease, and treatment terms. The other proposal suggests teaching Chinese character vocabulary through homonyms and polysemes. Additionally, the study proposes using affix derivation to illustrate medical Chinese vocabulary in terms of semantic networks. This research offers systematic approaches and effective vocabulary teaching methods for medical Chinese education, providing practical benefits to learners preparing for careers in the medical field.