What Is Medicine?
Medicine (from Latin for ‘cure’) is the science of healing and the practice of treating disease and injury. Medical professionals use medication, surgery and other methods to diagnose and treat a patient.
The medical field is very broad and encompasses many different areas of study. Some examples include:
Nutrition: The study of how food and drink impact on health and disease. Also known as dietetics, a nutritionist is a practitioner of nutritional therapy.
Pathology: This involves the diagnosis of disease based on the study of samples of body tissue such as blood or urine. Pathology also includes the morphologic and physiologic changes caused by the disease. This is a core component of modern scientific medical knowledge and plays a critical role in evidence-based medicine.
Physiology: This is the study of how the body functions normally. Some examples of physiology are respiration, circulation and the nervous system.
Medicine is a global profession and its scope includes primary care, emergency care, hospital care and community health. The discipline is regulated in most countries to ensure standards of professionalism and public health are maintained. The aim of medicine is to optimize human health and well-being through the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness and disability.
Some important aspects of medical care are:
Values: Medical ethics concern the moral values that guide and influence health care. Some of the most important values in medicine are respect for persons, beneficence and justice. Conflicts in these values often arise in situations that are not easily resolved. For example, the value of beneficence may conflict with the need to protect a patient’s confidentiality.
Medical training is a very specialized area of expertise that requires extensive schooling and practical experience. Doctors and other health care professionals must pass a rigorous test to obtain their license. Surgical training is particularly intensive, with residency programs lasting up to seven years. Some sub-specialties require even more time in training.
In prehistoric times, medicine was considered an art (an area of creativity and skill), often with strong connections to religious and philosophical beliefs. A well-known ancient spiritual system was herbalism, involving the use of plants for healing. Bloodletting was another popular cure, as was a variety of other practices. The modern era of medicine began with Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine around the end of the 18th century, and Robert Koch’s discovery of bacteria-caused disease in the mid-19th century.
You can deduct certain medical expenses on your tax return if they are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). For details, see Pub. 502, Medical and Dental Expenses.
Medicine (from Latin for ‘cure’) is the science of healing and the practice of treating disease and injury. Medical professionals use medication, surgery and other methods to diagnose and treat a patient. The medical field is very broad and encompasses many different areas of study. Some examples include: Nutrition: The study of how food and drink impact on health and disease. Also known as dietetics, a nutritionist is a practitioner of nutritional therapy. Pathology: This involves the diagnosis of disease based on the study of samples of body tissue such as blood or urine. Pathology also includes the morphologic and physiologic changes caused by the disease. This is a core component of modern scientific medical knowledge and plays a critical role in evidence-based medicine. Physiology: This is the study of how the body functions normally. Some examples of physiology are respiration, circulation and the nervous system. Medicine is a global profession and its scope includes primary care, emergency care, hospital care and community health. The discipline is regulated in most countries to ensure standards of professionalism and public health are maintained. The aim of medicine is to optimize human health and well-being through the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness and disability. Some important aspects of medical care are: Values: Medical ethics concern the moral values that guide and influence health care. Some of the most important values in medicine are respect for persons, beneficence and justice. Conflicts in these values often arise in situations that are not easily resolved. For example, the value of beneficence may conflict with the need to protect a patient’s confidentiality. Medical training is a very specialized area of expertise that requires extensive schooling and practical experience. Doctors and other health care professionals must pass a rigorous test to obtain their license. Surgical training is particularly intensive, with residency programs lasting up to seven years. Some sub-specialties require even more time in training. In prehistoric times, medicine was considered an art (an area of creativity and skill), often with strong connections to religious and philosophical beliefs. A well-known ancient spiritual system was herbalism, involving the use of plants for healing. Bloodletting was another popular cure, as was a variety of other practices. The modern era of medicine began with Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine around the end of the 18th century, and Robert Koch’s discovery of bacteria-caused disease in the mid-19th century. You can deduct certain medical expenses on your tax return if they are more than 7.5% of your adjusted gross income (AGI). For details, see Pub. 502, Medical and Dental Expenses.