History Of Medicine

In March 1944 Sir Winston Churchill remarked that "The more you can look back, the further you can go forward."

The past bears the genesis of the present and future. History forms the basis of all knowledge and is the convenient avenue of approach to any subject or to any discipline of science. As such it is natural to regard the evolution and progress of medicine from bygone times as an essential background to modern medical education.

The author has attempted to prepare a short synopsis to introduce the readers with the masters from the past and their theories, the contributions which helped evolve the medicine to its present state. Sketches of masters with the detailed contributions done by them, their findings which laid to the foundation of today’s system of medicine have been discussed. It’s an interesting journey to our roots so we can look up to a strong future by learning from our past.

The question of "the collective and individual" psychology and health has taken a foot-hold in the medical profession. The Hippocratic tradition though it remained a living force for long years in the western world and tried to eliminate superstitious and degenerating habits of life, yet could not give the right solution to the clinician.

Gradually it was felt that the aim of medical education should be to produce a cultured and highly educated - gentlemen or women with an adequate knowledge of medicine and unprejudiced observation for which one must have a minimum knowledge of historical background.

The author has attempted to write a short synopsis of the history of medicine.

What a reader can expect in the book is the information about-

- The Egyptian medicine

- Chinese medicine

- 16th century medicine of the era of Paracelsus and Harvey

- 19th century and Renaissance period

- Catgut

- Anaesthetic properties of that time

- Aphorisms and oath of Hippocrates

It is best to make the foundation of History strong so that the future is tread onto a successful and careful path.