Medicine is a profession that involves the practice of healing and prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness. It is a science which draws on knowledge from many disciplines, including biology, chemistry, physics and mathematics. Physicians are trained in the biomedical sciences, and have a wide range of medical skills including history taking, examination, surgery and pharmacology. They also undertake research and development activities, and are involved in health care policy making and administration.
The ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, regarded as the “father of modern medicine”, introduced a scientific approach and developed the concepts of the four humours. In the 19th century, Edward Jenner’s smallpox vaccine and Robert Koch’s discovery of antibiotics revolutionised medicine and health. Modern scientific biomedical research replaced traditional beliefs based on herbalism and the ancient Greek “four humours”.
Other disciplines within medicine include medical genetics, which is concerned with hereditary diseases. Neurology is the study of diseases of the nervous system. Paediatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with children’s illnesses. Endocrinology is the study of hormones and their effect on the body’s tissues and organs. Pathology is the study of disease processes, and includes cytology (the microscopic examination of cells) and embryology (the study of early development).
The core ethical principles of medicine are beneficence (“first do no harm”) and justice, with regard to fair distribution of scarce resources and the allocation of medical treatments. Doctors who breach these ethics may face a medical malpractice claim or be disciplined by the governing body.