Medicine
(Redirected from Medical science)
This article is about medical science and practice. For substances that treat patients, see drugs, medication and pharmacology.
A note to contributors: This article is about medicine in general. Please consider adding your contributions about medical topics to individual articles rather than this page (many are linked below, and there are more on the List of medical topics), and please think twice before adding more links here - otherwise this article could easily degenerate into an unreadable list of links.
Medicine is an area of human knowledge and behaviour concerned with restoring health. It is, in the broadest sense of the term, the science and practice of the prevention and curing of human diseases, and other ailments of the human body or mind. The term is, however, often used to refer more specifically to those matters dealt with by academically trained physicians and surgeons. There are many traditional and modern methods and schools of healing which are usually not considered to be part of (Western) medicine in a strict sense (see health science for an overview).
The most highly developed systems of medicine outside of the Western or Hippocratic tradition (q.v. Hippocrates) are the Ayurvedic school (of India) and traditional Chinese medicine. The remainder of this article focuses on the mainstream of the Western medical tradition.
(Western) medicine has two aspects: both as an area of knowledge (a science), and as an application of that knowledge (the medical professions). Evidence-based medicine is an attempt to link these two aspects through the use of the scientific method and techniques derived from safety engineering.
The various specialized branches of the science of medicine correspond to equally specialized medical professions dealing with particular organs or diseases. It may therefore be difficult to distinguish clearly between the science and the profession.
| Table of contents |
History of medicine
History of medicine -- Timeline of medicine and medical technology Museums & Collections of Health & Medicine
Medical sciences and medical professions
The delivery of modern health care depends on an expanding group of highly trained professionals coming together as an interdisciplanary team. Medical doctors have many specializations and subspecializations which are listed below. Dentistry and psychology, while separate disciplines from medicine, are often considered medical fields in the wider definition of the term. Practitioners such as physician assistants, nurse practitioners and midwives also treat patients and prescribe medication in many legal jurisdictions. The modern health care team also depdends on many health care professions, including: nurses, laboratory scientists, pharmacists, physiotherapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, dieteticians and bioengineers.
The foundation sciences underpinning human medicine overlap veterinary medicine.
Basic, supplementary and related sciences
- Anatomy is the study of the physical structure of organisms. In contrast to macroscopic or gross anatomy, cytology and histology are concerned with microscopic structures.
- Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry taking place in living organisms, especially the structure and function of their chemical components.
- Bioethics is a field of study which concerns the relationship between biology, science, medicine and ethics, philosophy and theology.
- Biostatistics is the application of statistics to biological fields in the broadest sense. A knowledge of biostatistics is essential in the planning, evaluation and interpretation of medical research. It is also fundamental to epidemiology and evidence-based medicine.
- Cytology is the microscopic study of individual cells.
- Embryology is the study of the early development of organisms.
- Epidemiology is the study of the demographics of disease processes, and includes, but is not limited to, the study of epidemics.
- Genetics is the study of genes, and their role in biological inheritance.
- Histology is the study of the structures of biological tissues by light microscopy, electron microscopy and histochemistry.
- Immunology is the study of the immune system, which includes the innate and adaptive immune system in human, for example.
- Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, including protozoa, bacteria, fungi, and viruses.
- Neuroscience is a comprehensive term for those disciplines of science that are related to the study of the nervous system. A main focus of neuroscience is the biology and physiology of the human brain.
- Pathology is the study of disease - the causes, course, progression and resolution thereof.
- Pharmacology is the study of drugs and their actions.
- Physiology is the study of the normal functioning of the body.
- Toxicology is the study of hazardous effects of drugs and poisons.
Diagnostic and imaging specialties
- Clinical Laboratory Sciences are the clinical diagnostic services which apply laboratory techniques to diagnosis and management of patients. In the United States these services are supervised by a Pathologist. The personnel that work in these departments are technically trained staff, each of whom usually hold a Medical Technology degree, who actually perform the tests, assays, and procedures needed for providing the specific services.
-
- Blood Bank or Transfusion medicine is concerned with the transfusion of blood and blood components.
- Cellular Pathology is concerned with diagnosis using samples from patients taken as tissues and cells using histology and cytology.
- Clinical Chemistry is concerned with diagnosis by making biochemical analysis of blood, body fluids and tissues.
- Hematology is concerned with diagnosis by looking at changes in the cellular composition of the blood and bone marrow as well as the coagulation system in the blood.
- Clinical Microbiology is concerned with the in vitro diagnosis of diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites,
- Clinical Immunology is concerned with disorders of the immune system and related body defenses. It also deals with diagnosis of allergy.
- Radiology is concerned with imaging of the human body, e.g. by x-ray, x-ray computed tomography, ultrasonography and nuclear magnetic resonance tomography.
- Interventional radiology is concerned with using imaging of the human body, usually from CT, ultrasound, or fluoroscopy, to do biopsies, place certain tubes, and perform intravascular procedures.
- Nuclear Medicine uses radioactive substances for in vivo and in vitro diagnosis using either imaging of the location of radioactive substances placed into a patient, or using in vitro diagnostic tests utilizing radioactive substances.
Disciplines of clinical medicine
- Anesthesiology is the clinical discipline concerned with providing anesthesia as well as the field of research associated with it.
- Dermatology is concerned with the skin and its diseases.
- Emergency Medicine is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of acute or life-threatening conditions, including trauma, surgical, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric emergencies.
- General practice or family medicine or primary care
- Intensive care medicine is concerned with the therapy of patients with serious and life-threatening disease or injury. Intensive care medicine employs invasive diagnostic techniques and (temporary) replacement of organ functions by technical means.
- Internal medicine is concerned with diseases of inner organs and systemic dieseases, i.e. such that affect the body as a whole. There are several subdisciplines of internal medicine:
- Cardiology is concerned with the heart and cardiovascular system and their diseases.
- Clinical Pharmacology is concerned with how systems of therapeutics interact with patients.
- Gastroenterology is concerned with the organs of digestion.
- Endocrinology is concerned with the endocrine system, i.e. endocrine glands and hormones.
- Haematology or hematology is concerned with the blood and its diseases.
- Infectious diseases is concerned with the study, diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases.
- Nephrology is concerned with diseases of the kidneys.
- Oncology is devoted to the study, diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other malignant diseases.
- Pulmonology is concerned with diseases of the lungs and the respiratory system as a whole.
- Rheumatology is devoted to the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases.
- Neurology is concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of nervous system diseases.
- Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) are concerned respectively with childbirth and the female reproductive and associated organs.
- Pediatrics or paediatrics is devoted to the care of infants and children.
- Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation or Physiatry is concerned with functional improvement after injury, illness, or congenital abnormality.
- Preventive Medicine
- Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that studies and treats mental and emotional disorders.
- Radiation therapy is concerned with the therapeutic use of ionizing radiation and high energy elementary particle beams in patient treatment.
- Surgical specialties
- There are many medical disciplines that employ operative treatment. Some of these are highly specialized and are often not considered subdisciplines of surgery, although their naming might suggest so.
- General surgery is surgery of the skin and it's contents, though now generally abdominal surgery and miscellaneous other surgical procedures.
- Cardiovascular surgery is the surgical specialty that is concerned with the heart and major blood vessels of the chest.
- Neurosurgery is concerned with the operative treatment of diseases of the nervous system.
- Maxillofacial surgery -- Oral surgery (actually a subspeciality of Dentistry)
- Ophthalmology deals with the diseases of the eye and their treatment.
- Orthopedic surgery -- Trauma surgery or Traumatology
- Otolaryngology or otorhinolaryngology or ENT (ear-nose-throat) is concerned with treatment of ear, nose and throat disorders.
- Pediatric surgery
- Plastic surgery includes aesthetic surgery (operations that are done for other than medical purposes) as well as reconstructive surgery (operations to restore function and/or appearance after traumatic or operative mutilation).
- Thoracic surgery is surgery of the chest, usually related to disease of the lungs.
- Urology focuses on the urinary tracts of males and females, and on the male reproductive system.
- Vascular surgery is surgery of the blood vessels, usually outside of the chest.
Settings Where Medical Care is Delivered
Medicine is a diverse field and the provision of medical care is therefor provided in a variety of locations. In addition to inpatient hospital settings medical services are often provided in locations such as emergency departements, endoscopy departments, outpatients department, operating theaters, and birth suites. Modern medical care also depends on information still delivered in many health care settings on paper records, but with increasing frequency by electronic means.
Teaching of medicine
Medical training is long and grueling, involving several years of university study followed by several more years of residential practice at a hospital. Entry to a medical degree in some countries (such as the United States) requires the completion of another degree first, while in other countries (such as the United Kingdom) medical training can be commenced as an undergraduate degree immediately after secondary education. Once graduated from medical school most physicians begin their residency training, where skills in a speciality of medicine are learned, supervised by more experienced doctors. The first year of residency is known as the Intern year. The duration of residency training depends on the speciality.
The name of the medical degree gained at the end varies: some countries (e.g. the US) call it 'Doctor of Medicine' (abbreviated 'M.D.'), while others (e.g. Australia, Britain, Pakistan) call it 'Bachelor of Medicine/Bachelor of Surgery (Chirurgie)' (a double degree, frequently abbreviated 'M.B.B.S' or 'M.B.B.Ch.'). In either case graduates of a medical degree may call themselves doctor. In the US and some other contries there is a parallel system of medicine called Osteopathy which awards the degree D.O. doctor of osteopathy. In many countries, a doctorate of medicine does not require original research as does, in distinction, a PhD.
A medical graduate can then enter general practice and become a general practitioner; or they can specialise in any one of a number fields to become a specialist. No matter what they choose, even more training is involved.
Legal restrictions
In most countries, it is prohibited to practice medicine without a proper degree in that field and doctors must be licensed by a medical board or some other equivalent organization. This is meant as a safeguard against charlatans. Occasionally, this has been seen as an obstacle to proponents of alternative medicines or faith healing.
Institutions in medicine
Clinic -- Hospital -- Hospice
Related topics
Health profession -- Healthcare system -- List of medical abbreviations -- medical equipment -- List of medical schools in the U.S.
See also
Big killers -- Rare diseases -- Iatrogenesis
External links
Entries not yet sorted
Medical informatics -- Medical Computer Science -- Pain therapy -- Palliative care -- Phage therapy -- Reproduction medicine -- Sanitation -- Nosology -- Telemedicine -- eHealth -- Consumer Health Informatics -- Telehealth -- Aerospace Medicine -- Forensic medicine -- Andrology
| Health science - Medicine |
| Anesthesiology - Dermatology - Emergency Medicine - General practice - Intensive care medicine - Internal medicine - Neurology - Obstetrics & Gynecology - Pediatrics - Public Health & Occupational Medicine - Psychiatry - Radiology - Surgery |
| Branches of Internal medicine |
| Cardiology - Endocrinology - Gastroenterology - Hematology - Infectious diseases - Nephrology - Oncology - Pulmonology - Rheumatology |
| Branches of Surgery |
| General surgery - Cardiothoracic surgery - Neurosurgery - Ophthalmology - Orthopedic surgery - Otolaryngology (ENT) - Plastic surgery - Urology - Vascular surgery |
![[Main Page]](/web/20040411234431im_/http://en.wikipedia.org/upload/wiki.png)