1. Introduction
I’m interested in becoming a doctor. I’m not sure what type of doctor, but I hope that this project will help me decide.
2. The History and Development of Medicine
There were many developments in ancient medicine due to the fact that people get injured and get diseases. In prehistoric times, people used herbs as healing agents. When tribes were formed and the caste system enacted, there were shamans or apothecaries who were the healers.
In 700 B.C., there was a medical school in Cnidus that is the first known Greek medical school that started the idea of observing patients. The Greek centers of medical advice, prognosis, and healing were dedicated temples to their healer-god Asclepius. At these shrines, patients would enter a dream-like state of induced sleep known as "enkoimesis" not unlike anesthesia, in which they either received guidance from the deity in a dream or were cured by surgery (Wikipedia). Hippocrates of Kos is known as the “father of modern medicine.” The
Hippocratic Corpus was constructed by Hippocrates and his students. Hippocrates made the Hippocratic Oath that even physicians today use. Hippocrates and his followers are credited for being the first to describe many diseases, including clubbing of the fingers that are sometimes
referred to as Hippocratic fingers. The clubbing of the fingers is an important diagnostic sign in chronic supportive lung disease, lung cancer, and cyanotic heart disease.
Once the Roman Empire fell in Western Europe, medicine changed into a more localized profession. Ancient practices in medicine were altered because of individual observations and experiences. Surgical practices were greatly improved. Rogerius Salernitanus wrote the book “Chirurgia” which ...
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In modern medicine when an ailment arises it can be quickly diagnosed, attributed to a precise bacteria, virus, or body system, and treated with medication, surgery or therapy. During the time before rational medical thought, this streamlined system of treatment was unheard of, and all complaints were attributed to the will of the multitude of commonly worshiped Greek gods (Greek Medicine 1). It was during the period of Greek rationalism that a perceptible change in thought was manifested in the attitudes towards treating disease. Ancient Greece is often associated with its many brilliant philosophers, and these great thinkers were some of the first innovators to make major developments in astrology, physics, math and even medicine. Among these academics was Hippocrates, one of the first e...
Hippocrates (c. 460-377 BC) was born on the Aegean island of Cos, Greece. He learned his medical practices from his father, Heracleides, and Ancient Greek physician Herodicos of Selymbria. Like many big Greek names of the time, Hippocrates was thought to have come from the Gods. He was considered a descendent of Asclepios, the God of Medicine. Two major creations of Hippocrates have upheld the biggest influence on medical history. The peak of his career was during the Peloponnesian War (431-404 B.C), where his healing tactics helped Athenian warriors (“Hippocrates”, 1998).
Twenty four centuries ago, Hippocrates created the profession of medicine, for the first time in human history separating and refining the art of healing from primitive superstitions and religious rituals. His famous Oath forged medicine into what the Greeks called a technik, a craft requiring the entire person of the craftsman, an art that, according to Socrates in his dialogue Gorgias, involved virtue in the soul and spirit as well as the hands and brain. Yet Hippocrates made medicine more than a craft; he infused it with an intrinsic moral quality, creating a “union of medical skill and the integrity of the person [physician]” (Cameron, 2001).
He was one of the first doctors to observe his patients, and believed humans should lead simple and stable lives to keep them healthy and their humours balanced. Dissection was still looked down upon, and even forbidden, in these times, and therefore this held back medical studies from progressing further. People trained under these beliefs were recognised as doctors instead of priests. This was a huge development in medical history as beliefs in supernatural causes began to die out, and women who were not slaves were also allowed to train as do...
At the turn of the nineteenth century, medicine was hardly the enlightened profession it is today. Medical practices were often barbaric, employing methods that had been used for centuries, yielding little or no results and often killing the patient with a different affliction than the original ailment. Leeching (or blood letting), purgation, poor liquid diets, and cold water dousing were common practices as late as the 1850's. Even after newer, more effective methods of medical treatment had been introduced, many of the physicians, surgeons, and apothecaries hesitated to use them. Fearing the loss of their reputations, they hung on to superstitious beliefs, doubting the effectiveness of su...
When speaking in medical terms and their beginnings, one must always lend credit to the Greeks as well as the entitled father of medicine, Hippocrates himself (Britannica 1). Even the most distinguished doctors today swear by the Hippocratic Oath (Passions and Tempers 1) and use the Corpus Hippocratum as their standard of practice (Medical Ethics 1). Hippocrates is most known for discovering diseases and keyed the central theories involving humorism. He focused the wellbeing of one’s body rather than praying to deities and unnecessary sacrifices (Nlm 1). This included restoring one’s humors by exercising, dieting and the occasional phlebotomy (Nlm 2). Elder forms of surgery also include trepanation and bone setting. John Hunter with extensive knowledge and surgery and skillful hands, used some of these techniques early on in his career.
The doctoring profession draws its roots to the time even before the ancient Greeks and since then, it has grown
Although he lived four centuries before the birth of Christ, a man named Hippocrates recorded the symptoms of diseases we still see to this day. Known as the “Father of Medicine” (Hippocrates), Hippocrates was an ancient physician who studied and recorded his observances of the body’s infections and physiology. He set forth the foundation for future physicians, and in doing so, is accredited for our knowledge of infectious diseases in earlier centuries. During this time however, many believed the earth and its inhabitants were composed of four general elements: air, water, fire, and dirt. They also believed that any one person who fell ill was being punished by the gods. As a foresighted thinker though, Hippocrates encouraged the idea that humans became ill due to natural causes. In that wisdom, he recorded all his observances of his patients and their illnesses, taking careful note of the bodily symptoms and their progression.
Unlike today, the Ancient Roman doctors received no respect, because they were considered to be fraudilant. This reputation was caused by the doctors magical tricks, and the lack of useful treatments. The job required minimal training, as they only had to apprentice with their senior. Thus, many free slaves and people who had failed at everything else filled this profession. Some did try to find new remedies; however, others used medicine to con people. Public surgeries were done to attract audiences as an advertisement. Doctors would even become beauticians providing perfumes, cosmetics, and even hairdressing. When wives wanted their husbands gone, they would say, ¡§put the patient out of his misery¡¨ and the doctors would be the murderers. However, as wars began to break out, there were improvements bec...
Wrong theories of the anatomy have been assumed to be correct for thousands of years. Theories of using a scientific base were not used by the Europeans until the Renaissance period (“Medicine”). These theories, made by a Greek Physician named Galen, were supported by the Catholic Church. The Middle Ages were a difficult time to achieve medical advances because Galen’s theories were not to be questioned or tested(“The Impact of the Renaissance on Medicine”).Even after these theories appeared to be inaccurate, the support from such a high authority made it extremely difficult to change the medical practices and training(“Rennaissance medicine”).
Hippocrates used his knowledge of natural healing to help many people recover from what ails them in an attempt to; also, learn more of people’s sicknesses. Hippocrates once thoroughly examined the king of Macedonia, who was very sick at the time, and aided him in “recovering from tuberculosis”- which he did recover from (World Biography, 4).
Hippocrates, the central historical figure in Greek medicine, was born in Kos between 470-460 B.C. He was born of an ancestor of Aselepios, the son of Apollo, named Heraklides. He greatened his education by traveling. He traveled often and widely before he settled in Kos to practice and teach medicine.
Early Greek medicine was more of a divine matter. It was believed that the God Asclepius was the god of medicine. Priests would live at his temples and claimed they knew the ways of healing people. It was not until around 500 B.C., a Greek physician named Alcmaeon began to dissect animals to observe their skeleton, muscles, and brain. This was most probably the first ever to describe a phenomenon through objective observations. Through his observations, he believed that illness was due to an imbalance in the body. This idea prevailed for many centuries in the history of medicine.
"Greek Medicine - The Hippocratic Oath." U.S National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 02 July 2012. Web. 23 Oct. 2013.
As the centuries unrolled and new civilizations appeared, cultural, artistic, and medical developments shifted toward the new centers of power. A reversal of the traditional search for botanical drugs occurred in Greece in the fourth century BC, when Hippocrates (estimated dates, 460-377 BC), the "Father of Medicine," became interested in inorganic salts as medications.