The First World War of 1914 through 1918 was the beginning of new era of medical innovations and advancements that were infrequently glorified and somewhat held in high prestige. Beginning in the earlier stages of the war, there was uncertainty in hygienic medical practices and education through notable doctors expertise unfamiliar. Therefore, in the later stages of the war, developing medical knowledge emerged through an increasing need for doctors. Evidently a noteable doctor, Harvey Williams Cushing, aspired to be a change for surgeons and first aid responders in the war. From 1905 on, Harvey Williams Cushing, advanced neurosurgery through a series of operations through his writings. Cushing led a pathway to a team of doctors who perpetually enhanced the performance of medical care today.
Medical improvements allowed doctors to expand their knowledge from World War I to modern medicine by changing the way medical care is executed in order to aid in the care of injured individuals. The advancement of medicine in the United States was seen in discovery of vaccines that led to the control of diseases that impact civilians in the United States today. As a result, developments in surgeries taken in various medical specialties and treatments resulting in operations used today. Overall, medicine of World War One era had a significant impact on modern healthcare. It revealed groundbreaking medical discoveries and changed the way healthcare is executed through medical improvements. Furthermore, the discovery of vaccines led to the eradication of diseases, and strides taken in various medical specialties and treatments improved the safety and reduced the complexity of operations. These improvements resulted in saving lives and controlling deadly diseases which positively impact civilians in the United States
The improvement of medicine over the course of the human successes gave great convenience to the people of today. Science has cured and prevented many illnesses from occurring and is on its way to cure some of the most dreadful and harmful illnesses. As the world modernizes due to the industrialization, so does the ways of medicine. Some cures are approached by chance, some, through intense, scientific measures.
From July 1851 to March 1852, Dr. Wythe practiced medicine in Philadelphia, where upon he moved to Port Carbon, Pennsylvania, and practiced until 1857. He next became surgeon in the collieries of Carbon County, a post he held until 1860.23 Dr. Wythe was practicing in Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania during the succeeding two years, when the Civil War began and he received his commission from Abraham Lincoln to assume the position of Assistant Surgeon of the United States Volunteers. In July 1862, he was promoted to Surgeon and five months later organized the Camp Parole Hospital near Alexandria, D. C., for sick and wounded paroled soldiers. On February 28, 1863, Dr. Joseph Henry Wythe was promoted to the full rank of surgeon. After the Civil War, Wythe moved to the Pacifi...
Lax, Eric. "On the Medical Front; Bleeding Blue and Gray Civil War Surgery and the Evolution
Resection was a process that “involved cutting open the limb, sawing out the damaged bone, and then closing the incision” (Jones, 1). Resection allows the patient to keep his limbs but it requires a great ordeal of time and skill. This also contributed to the common practice of amputation during the war. But there were cases where surgeons did use this method. Terry J. Jones said in his NY Times article, “resections were used more frequently after surgeons learned that amputations had a much higher mortality rate” (Jones, 1). In another article by Corydon Ireland, it describes Mitchell Adam’s, a Harvard lecturer, grandfather who served as a volunteer surgeon during the Civil War. In the article, “Adams was not a champion of hasty amputations, but argued for excision and other limb-saving measures. And he describes the everyday pressures of a country practice in Framingham, Mass” (Ireland, 1). This meant that not all surgeons at the time only wanted to amputate but strived for alternate methods. This new knowledge shows that some surgeons were more dedicated to thinking about the well-being of their patients than others and this opens up to other possibilities that may have occurred during the war. This allows an image to come to mind of a surgeon diligently operating on a soldier with care and compassion. However, even though there may be many possibilities, we can’t truly know every event that occurs during a
There is no doubt that these events have improved and advanced the science of medicine as a whole and that lives have been improved and saved through the availability of healthcare within the system that has been created. The introduction and availability of antibiotics alone has restored to good health countless individuals who in the century before would have certainly died from bacterial infection.
During, and after World War I, there were lots of things that changed and advanced, some of the main, big changes and advances after World War I, was in the field of phycology and medicine. There were many different advances in the field of medicine after World War I, some of the main, medical advances, were in the field of surgery, development of new drugs, and in the field mental health and phycology.
12. Scott, Clark. "Medical aspects of the lewis and clark expedition." Lweis and Clark Trail 27 January 2014.
Here at the Chelsea Naval Hospital, the influx of patients arriving home from the war inflicted with "battle wounds and mustard gas burns," has created a shortage of physicians and it is becoming increasingly difficult to fight this influenza. Even our own physicians are falling ill from the disease and dying within hours of its onset. Today I received a letter from Dr. Roy, a friend and fellow physician at Camp Devens, who describes a similar situation:
Advancement in Medicine has drastically been on the rise throughout history. The start of improvement in medicine could be seen during the Korean War. Since the war fought in Korea had an armistice signed between the two countries, many people has seen the Korean War as a failure. Countless lives were lost in vain to resolve a war that ended up reverting back to where it originally started. The failure of the Korean War has resulted in years of tense hostility between both North and South Korea and their neighboring countries. Though the Korean War was recognized as a failure, there was success that came from this war, the advancement in medicine. The fatality rate since World War II compared to the Korean War decreased drastically. “In World
The history of how Surgical Technologists began on the battlefields in World War II, when the Army used medics to work under the direct supervision of the surgeon, nurses were not allowed aboard combat ships at time, this led to a new profession within the military called Operating Room Technicians (ORTs). An accelerated nursing program was form only on operating room technology was set up as an on the job training of nursing assistants who worked in the surgery department, th...
The contributions of several doctors, researchers, and scientists helped improve the health of the growing population. In 1850 the average life expectancy was 42 years. By 1910 the average life expectancy had risen to nearly 55 years. Between 1850 and 1910 there were several advances in the medical field. The introduction of genes, white blood cells, blood groups, insulin, rubber gloves, aspirin, and vitamins and the discoveries of Pasteur, Charcot, Halsted, Zirm, Lister, and Koch were the starting point of an international fight against disease.
Stepansky, Paul E., Ph. D. "Category Archives: Medicine in WWI." Medicine Health and History. February 11, 2012. Accessed January 13, 2014. http://adoseofhistory.com/category/military-psychiatry/medicine-in-wwi/.
With the creation of Medicare in 1966 in order to expand access for the elderly to the American healthcare system, the ways in which medicine and its corresponding industries were conducted were irrevocably changed. Prior to its inception, only 65% of people over 65 actually had proper health insurance, as the elderly paid three times as much for healthcare as young people (Stevens, 1998). The private medical sector had much more control over who they would treat, how much they would charge, and more; the passing of Medicare freed up the elderly to have reasonable access to healthcare as a consequence of a lifetime of paying into the system.
Although with everything this world has to offer, there are disadvantages, and modern medicine does not fall short but the fact is that there are a lot of advantages that accompanies this course of treatment for the entire society, starting from each individual to the economic state of the modern society, modern medicine is making its mark in a positive way. By identifying and preventing illnesses, modern medicine has greatly improved lives, improved the economy and also diagnosed underlying illnesses in the modern society.