Medicine's Impact on Society Through the Ages

Essay on Medicine and Society
Christina Phillipps
28 September, 2010
Medicine's Impact: Is there more than meets the scalpel?
Today's medicine is vastly different than it has ever been in our history and society. We are able to
fix, cure and repair almost anything we want in the human body. When the average person thinks of
how medicine has affected the American culture, many things– mostly good ones come to mind.
However, in the past 100 years it has had a lot of negative impact as well. It is important to look at
both the positive and the negative effects medicine and the health industry represent. Because of the
medical privileges Americans have access to, there tends to be some taking advantage of what is
truly necessary and what is not. It should...show more content...
Although many may agree with keeping abortion illegal, this doesn't necessarily mean that it will
prevent it from occurring. One side of the argument is that many women and teens in desperate
situations will seek after doctors who don't quite know what they are doing, leading to many
health complications and even death of the mother. In 2003 President Bush signed a "partial birth
abortion ban" prohibiting doctors from committing an "over act" designed to kill a partially
delivered fetus. This goes against the roe vs. wade debate of 1973 that ruled abortion legal in
America. If a baby has already passed away in the fetus, it is legal to take the body out of the
fetus, however, because of the 2003 law; there are hardly any doctors willing to perform this
procedure. The technical term for this is called a dilation and evacuation (D&E) which involves
removing a larger fetus, sometimes in pieces from the womb (Between a woman and her doctor p
756). Most doctors are only trained to do abortions with fetus' in the first trimester and fewer than 7
percent of obstetricians are trained to do a D&E. Also, abortion is not readily available in 86
counties in the U.S.
Just like abortion, birth control has had many positive and negative impacts on our nation. Medical
and drug technology have greatly advanced birth control methods recently and made such efforts
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Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) Essay
Evidence Based Medicine (EBM) has been a truly evolving and expanding standard for the practice
of medicine and healthcare around the world. This expanding body of knowledge and expertise has
been melded into medicine becoming the gold standard of care, in addition to possibly the only
manageable way to extract precise and up to date clinical information. The evolution of EBM has
been thoroughly evolving since its inception into the lexicon of mindset of medicine. It is believed
that Evidence based medicine is relatively new to the practice of medicine, the initial exposure is
dated only to the 1970's, and its implementation to the 1990's, as far as many researchers can
deduce,1 given what the body of research has presented. Given its...show more content...
Nurse practitioners have evolved into a central role maintaining the same scope of practice as
Physician Assistants and fulfilling the great need for mid–level providers in medicine. The
utilization of mid–level providers increases the efficacy and the gross lack of access and affordable
healthcare for most Americans. The current status of nurse practitioners is that there has been a
documented increase in the levels of fear regarding EBM, nurse practitioners have been shown to not
trust, or to not posses the skills to calculate the necessary mathematics to evaluate EBM research,
especially and specifically the measurement of clinical outcome among EBM 4 information. It has
been shown that the technology of the nurse practitioners' education has not been advantageous to
their ability to apply EBM, 5 and thus they have ultimately experienced a difficulty harnessing and
implementing EBM because of this inherent educational weakness.
Evidence Based Medicine/Practice has been a field of concern for the educational model since its
inception into the lexicon of medicine. Various strategies have been tried and implemented which
would benefit all

Herbal Medicine Essay
Alternative medicine has been around for centuries, although it has just started to become very
popular in countries such as The United States. Many people now are following the trend without
knowing anything about alternative medicine. People should be aware of the benefits as well as the
precautions involved in taking these natural remedies.
The most common form of alternative medicine nowadays is herbal medicines. These natural
remedies can be found in millions of American homes today. Herbal medicine is probably the most
widely used of the alternative medicines. Herbal medicine is a part of homeopathy, which is an
alternative system of healing that uses very small doses of substances to relieve specific symptoms
(2). Traditional...show more content...
It is designed to treat the person, not just the disease.
Alternative medicine emphasizes the individual person. "Because of it holistic view of the body
/mind, it is more specific for each patient's needs than is Western medicine"(9). For example, five
women may come into a clinic with the same problem, but each of the problems is accompanied by
a variety of different signs and symptoms, no two of which are exactly alike. Instead of each woman
getting the same treatment, each of these five women will receive an individually tailored treatment
plan with different herbs, different acupuncture therapy, and different lifestyle suggestions (9).
Alternative medicine has no side effects. "Because treatment is so specifically tailored to each
person, if the diagnosis has been correct, the treatments prescribed by Alternative medicine should
have no side effects"(9). Any mild side effects that may arise in the initial stages of herbal treatment
can be corrected by adjustments to the herbal formula. Most drugs prescribed by doctors have at
least some expected and normal side effects and many have potentially serious, irreversible ones.
Alternative medicine has a strong emphasis on prevention. In Western medicine, diagnosis can only
be made and treatment given if there are measurable material or tissue changes that show up in
pictures or in blood or fluid tests(5). If a person complains of symptoms which cannot be measured
by these tests,

Medicines Act Of 1968 And The Uk
In the UK, there are more than 1 billion scripts prescribed and dispensed every year (HSCIC,
2013). There are over 12,000 pharmacies in the UK, and approximately 1.6 million people visit a
pharmacy every day (HSCIC, 2013). It is therefore natural to assume that between these 1 billion
prescriptions, an error or mistake will be made. Current studies suggest that of all the dispensed
medicines, there are approximately 0.01–3.32% errors made in community pharmacy and 0.02–2.7%
in hospital pharmacy (James et all, 2009).
The rules and regulations surrounding dispensing errors in the UK are governed by the Medicines
Act of 1968 'the Act', and the Health Act 1999, which legislates the General Pharmaceutical Council
(GPhC) through the Pharmacy Order 2010. The Act is an Act of Parliament which governs the
control, manufacture and supply of medicines in the UK. It was introduced to help control the use
of medicinal compounds and to increase patient safety, although much of it has been modernized
and repealed. It also gives power to the courts to charge any dispensing mistakes as a criminal
offence.
Section 64 (1) of the Act states that "No person shall, to the prejudice of the purchaser, sell any
medicinal product which is not of the nature or quality demanded by the purchaser (The Medicines
Act, 1968). This essentially means that every time a patient is accidently handed a wrong medicine–
one that was not on the prescription, the pharmacist faces not only disciplinary action,

Essay about Alternative Medicine
Alternative Medicine
Although "Alternative" or "Complementary" medicine has been kept on the fringes of the medical
sciences in the past, it is becoming increasingly more popular, and more reputable. Alternative
medicines are those medical systems which are not taught to or practiced by most conventional
medical doctors. Alternative medicines seemingly have always existed, changing and conforming to
the current climate of society. There seems to be an almost endless number of alternative medicines,
each with their own method of gaining perfect health. Often people who are dissatisfied with
conventional medicine turn to alternative medicine for their medical needs. Many similarities link the
diverse extremities of alternative medicine....show more content...
The scientific community is much quicker to label this second type as quacks, whereas the scientific
community has failed to gain a consensus on the legitimacy of the first type. Unfortunately, both are
encompassed by the term alternative medicine. This paper will focus on the more controversial
alternative medicines described in the first group.
By examining some of the most popular, enduring alternative medical systems, one can begin to see
some general trends of the systems, understand some recurring flaws, and understand the attraction
and usefulness of alternative medicine in today's health care system. However, alternative medicine
remains controversial. Whether it can be supported scientifically or not, alternative medicine may be
useful to encourage both physical and mental well–being via a placebo effect. For this reason,
alternative medicine must be considered by physicians as a complement to modern medicine.
Description of alternative medical systems (including a brief history and background):
Chiropractic treatment:
Chiropractic is one of the most respected and most prominent of alternative medicine practices.
Although many people would only consider visiting a chiropractor for the alleviation of pain caused
by musculoskeletal problems, chiropractic beliefs involve much more than just muscle manipulation.
Just over a century ago, Daniel David Palmer claimed to have cured both deafness

Modern medicine has advanced drastically over the last decade, with improvements in fighting
cancers and diseases that would have killed someone in the past, but one section of modern
medicine has lacked any major developmental improvement. Vaccinations are a stagnant medicine,
there is little research put into them. According to the world health organization the core work for
the next ten years will be to identify vaccines and prioritize research, create guidelines of research
standards, and improve research and product capacity, turn results into practices. While all of these
are improvements the World Health Organization needs to improve on modern vaccinations already
being used. Most vaccines in market still use older chemicals such as mercury or aluminum, which
has proved to have adverse reactions on humans; in an essay regarding the anti–vaccination
movement Jason Behrmann, a doctor at the French department of medicine and bioethics, stated
"certain vaccine recipients experience an allergic reaction that is often not due to the vaccine 's
active ingredients" and goes on to state "but rather its packaging, additives, or trace contaminants
originating from the manufacturing process" (p2).
The number of Vaccinations a child receives before going to school has been steadily increasing in
the last several years. Along with vaccinations there has been an alarming rise in SIDS or sudden
infant death syndrome and many people believe this is because of the number of

Personalized Medicine Essay
Personalized medicine refers to the prescription of specific treatments and therapeutics best suited
for an individual, taking into consideration both genetic and environmental factors that influence
response to therapy. (Jain 2016)
Pharmacogenomics, a component of precision medicine, is the study of how genes affect a person's
response to particular drugs. It involves a combination of pharmacology and genomics, to
manufacture medication and doses that are customized to fulfill the variations found in people's
genes. (Reference 2016)
In its effort to incorporate genetics into clinical practice and medicine production, pharmacogenetics
has received much attention. With limited knowledge and access to genetic testing, coupled with
heavy costs of sequencing individual genomes in clinical settings (Lee 2005), race and ethnic
identity has been used as a stand–in for genetic heritage. The focus on emerging clinical applications
of pharmacogenetics, lies in its assumption that genetic variations follow along racial and ethnic
lines. Therefore, the hypothesis that different racial and ethnic groups have different requirements of
drugs for the same diagnosis would not come as much of a surprise (Hunt and Kreiner 2012).
As a more cost–effective practice, clinicians make use of a person's family history, instead of genetic
testing, to...show more content...
The Institute of Medicine's report on health disparities outlined that race has a significant impact on
health, and emphasizes that many of these differences are environmental and coincide with racial
identity in the United States (Lee 2005). This would imply that even when genetics of a population
is taken into consideration, we should still consider race or ethnicity as a variable in order to take
account of environmental factors (Tate and Goldstein

Essay On Healthcare In The United States
Healthcare in the United States The biggest issue in America is not just hunger, education, and
crime– but health care. Perhaps the cause of these other issues, health care is expensive and hard
to access. The high cost is tolerated in the belief that more expensive health care leads to better
care. This is not true, as studies show that 20% to 30% of patients are issued the wrong treatment or
medicine. These medical errors have caused thousands of lives to be lost– at a higher cost. As more
Americans are aware of our low ranking in worldwide health care– Japan, Sweden, and Canada
making the top three–the need for a nationwide health care reform is much debated. Even with other
great countries to mirror we are still hesitant in reforming health care to make it accessible to every
American citizen. Although the United States guarantees it's citizens access to fire and police
services, protection by military, national postal service, and education as well as many other free
federal– and state–funded services they have yet to commit to ensuring them health care coverage.
The Affordable Care Act allows affordable healthcare to individuals with low–income–...show more
content...
Citizens in America obtain healthcare either through an employer, Medicare, or ,for the forty–five
million, out–of–pocket. The number one in healthcare, Japan, uses the Bismarck model system–
healthcare through insurance. America is almost the same, except the Bismarck insurance insures
everyone without making a profit. Japan has more privately owned hospitals than America. This
model can be funded several different ways for cost–control. The reason we have not changed our
healthcare system is because of federal debt. Half of the health care costs are paid by the
government. This debt will be America's downfall, but also the healthcare reform it so desperately

Medical Advances Essay
Medical Advances
Besides the computer revolution, medical advances have caused tension between faith and reason.
The medical advances of the Twentieth Century have many beneficial effects for humanity.
Diseases that used to be dangerous or life threatening, like mumps, measles, and whooping cough,
are no longer worries in todays medical world. Tetanus, typhoid, and the bubonic plaque can now
be treated with antibiotics or other medicines. Vaccines, especially the polio vaccine, freed many
people from the effects of a disease. Advances in heart surgery and organ transplants have saved
many lives. Anesthetics and painkillers have been made to reduce or eliminate pain during surgery
or a painful disease. Advances in cancer and AIDS have...show more content...
This will tremendously benefit farmers who raise livestock, and cloning of the superior animals
will also make the food supply healthier and larger in this growing world. Other advances in
medical technology deal with the preborn and postborn babies and prolonging life techniques.
Prenatal technology and obstetrics have allowed babies to be born as early as twenty–two weeks
after conception. Life support systems have helped to prolong lives and have even supported
people in comas who have "woken up" after many years. However, these medical advances have
been questioned as to whether they really are "advance." Many of these new medical techniques
conflict with peoples faith in medical ethics and with their religious beliefs, especially Catholicism.
A debate about the extent to which humans are allowed to "play God" to destroy, alter, or create
life forms has risen. Most of the new controversial medical procedures have become accepteed in
this impersonal, technological world, but many people do not believe these procedures are really
"progress." Many people believe that Church should be the driving force in the fight against AIDS.
Robert K. Gray in "Some Diseases Are Less Equal Than Others": The War Against AIDS (1990)
states that "the pulpit of the Catholic Church is the mightiest of weapons" against the spreading of
AIDS and against the hate that evolves for AIDS victims.(6) However, most people who have AIDS
were contaminated by sinning

Why I Want to Study Medicine
The sun exploded into a million shades of orange. I sat, friends at each side, atop a monstrous pile of
boulders. I looked over the vastness of Joshua Tree National Park, and saw a glimpse of myself.
Love filled my soul; love of people, love of family. The backcountry has always helped me find this
love; it has been my personal northstar, shepherding me toward research and medicine. I started
backpacking at 13, trekking across the winter–harsh lands of Idaho and Montana. It was difficult, but
despite this, a feeling welled within me that pushed me forward. This feeling warmed my numb
fingers and soothed the ache in my thighs. It drew me close to my friends, fostering the teamwork
required. Each new trip allowed me moments of introspection. The teamwork led to trust, trust led
to caring, caring led to empathy; eventually I understood the satisfaction of helping others. This is
how the backcountry shaped me. Over the next year many choices I made would be based on these
lessons. When I was in high school, I had no inkling of where I was going, but I tested the waters. I
volunteered at the Mrs. Tewillegar Wildlife Foundation and did a rotation observing
anesthesiologists in San Francisco. I was a green advocate and spent much of my time reading about
and debating the travesties visited upon the environment.
In my young explorations I found that medicine and environmental politics peaked my interest. In
my first semester at Pitzer College, I started to study

Essay on Medical Research
Should medical research be continued when many couldn 't afford it?
Science has advanced by leaps and bounds over the years, with much of the results are achieved
through plenty of research and knowledge. One of the areas of research where we spend the most
funds on is medical research. With the rise of poverty and healthcare costs, complaints on expensive
medical research being a waste of funds have arose. The thoughts behind these complaints are that
the result of these researches benefit more to some parties–such as medical institutions for the profit
they might get, a country for its 'name ', and the researchers for their satisfaction– instead of the
public, and how massive amount of funding have been allocated for medical research...show more
content...
Preventative medicine is one of the most important discoveries in the history of medicine.
Diseases that were once common are now very rare because of this type of medicine, or normally
called 'vaccine '. For instance, the research into polio vaccines spent a significant amount of funds,
but it was a wonderful success. Additionally, the price for the vaccine is very reasonable, showing
that medical research doesn 't always result in expensive treatments. The medications for dengue
fever has found thanks to medical research. However, intensive experiments have found an
evidently cheaper and easily obtainable natural medication, which is papaya leaf juice. It is also
notable that along with the progression of the medical sector, healthcare costs and medicines for
many common illnesses are now cheaper than they were in the past. With new discoveries regarding
the substances used to make the medicines, less expensive substances are used and therefore making
them cheaper and more accessible.
It is also to be considered that if we disallow a research for continuing just because of expenditure
reason, we risk destroying its value entirely. For example, the research into cancer has gone for a
long period. It is a pity to stop it because that would mean destroying the value of ongoing multi–year
studies. Even though it is true that current research hasn 't resolved the issues of cancer and other
'currently incurable ' diseases, there is no

Medication Administration Essay
Medication Administration The intended use of medications is meant to improve a person' health, it
is very important the individual administering medication or self–medicating use the drugs correctly,
by following the doctors' instruction for the medication prescribed. Medication is given to diagnose,
treat, and prevent illness. Medication can be very dangerous, which can potentially cause harm or
even deaf if it's not used properly.
Administering medication requires the understanding of how the medication is to enter the body
such as orally, transdermal, or intravenous. It also requires the knowledge of when the medication
needs to be administered, the possible side effects, and its toxicity. Doctors, nurses, and a few other
...show more content...
According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA 2009), the wrong route of administrating
medication accounts for 1.3 million injuries each year. An article published in September issue of the
Journal of Patient Safety estimates there are between 210,000 and 400,000 deaths per year
associated with medical errors. This makes medical errors the third leading cause of deaths in the
United States, behind that comes heart disease and cancer. To prevent medical errors always follow
the Three Checks and most importantly the Rights of Medication Administration. The "Rights of
Medication Administration" helps to ensure accuracy when administering medication to a patient.
When administering medication the administer should ensure they have the Right Medication, Right
Patient, Right Dosage, Right Route, Right Time, Right Route, Right Reason, and Right
Documentation. Also remember the patient has the right to refuse, assess patient for pain, and
always assess the patient for signs of effects.
Medication administration is not just giving medicine to a patient; it also involves observation of
how the patient responds to the drug after administration. As a nurse or health professional we're
trained to know medication effects. Knowing how medication move through the body and what
effects the medication has or what adverse effects may occur is most important when preventing

History of Medicine Essay
The practice of medicine has been shaped through the years by advances in the area of diagnostic
procedures. Many of these advances were made possible by scientific breakthroughs made before
the 20th century. Modern medicine arguably emerged. Both normal and abnormal functions
(physiology and pathology) were increasingly understood within smaller units, first the tissues and
then the cells. Microscopy also played a key role in the development of bacteriology. Physicians
started to use stethoscope as an aid in diagnosing certain diseases and conditions. New ways of
diagnosing disease were developed, and surgery emerged as an important branch of medicine. Above
all, a combination of science and technology underpinned medical knowledge and...show more
content...
By using their microscopes, they found that every living plant and animal they examined was
made of cells. As microscopes were improved, scientists were able to see smaller and smaller
organisms. They found that no matter how large or small the organism was, it was made of cells,
leading to cell theory. For example, a German biologist, Theodor Schwann discovered that all plant
and animal cells were divided into cells by looking through his microscope. He also discovered that
the cell is the basic unit of organization in organisms. Cells can be grouped together to form
tissues, which can in turn be grouped together to make an organ. Organs can be grouped together
to form a system, which is part of an organism. He was able to use microscopes to see the ways
that cells work and help to determine which kind of microorganisms (bacteria) is causing the
disease and making people ill. This is particularly valuable in the study of the components of
organisms, where physicians are able to overcome a treatment of method to kill disease cells and
restore peopleВЎВ¦s health. The microscope revealed not only the cellular structure of human
tissues, but also the organisms that cause diseases. The discovery of cells led scientists to study
cells and discover more information about cells; this, allowed scientists to find ways to prevent or
cure diseases. The use of microscopes has made many

Statement Of Purpose For Medicine
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
During my childhood days I used to visit my grandmother's place in my native village. I saw my
grandmother suffering from cervical spondylosis. I used to see her wincing in pain. For the entire
village there was just one small hospital without even basic amenities which she could not afford to
go. It was then that I noticed that in my country India, home to over a billion, has a low doctor to
patient ratio and even fewer people who could afford treatment. From that day on wards I was
intrigued by medicine and the spirit of making health service available to all.
Right from my childhood, my parents have been the guiding force as both of them are doctors.
They have enlightened me on the way the world in general works and the importance of medicine
in the world. So, academics were a natural choice. But, it was in high school where two teachers,
Mrs. Rhode and Mrs. Deepa, widened the horizon of my knowledge about the infinite world of
Science. Consequently, I chose Biology Physics Chemistry (BPC) courses in my 10+2.
My inclination to understand and explore the basic sciences coupled with a good foundation in
biology and the drive to make medicine accessible and economically viable...show more content...
During my study course we had theoretical knowledge but it was in internship, that I had exposure to
the patient and was given a chance to treat the patients and perform minor surgeries. In internship, I
learnt history taking, examination of patient, recognition of emergency procedures and management
of medical emergencies. I have been an active participant in Aarogyasri program and many medical
camps conducted by Mediciti Institute of Medical Sciences throughout the state of Telangana to
provide health care to the people and to create health awareness among the

The Medical Field Essay
There are many different careers in the world. One of the largest career fields is in medicine. The
medical field consists of many different jobs, some of which are physical therapists, surgeons,
pediatricians, nurses, and anesthesiologists. All of these jobs help people when they are sick,
injured, or recovering. Being a surgeon is one of the tougher jobs in medicine. Becoming a surgeon
is a long journey filled with many hours of hard work, but if one finds saving people's lives
rewarding, then it is the perfect occupation. Neurosurgeons, Cardiovascular Surgeons, and General
Surgeons are just a few of the different types of surgeons practicing in the medical field.
"Neurosurgery is the surgical specialty that deals with the nervous...show more content...
Some work in surgery centers performing surgeries that enable patents to go home not long after
the surgery is completed. Many Surgeons work very long, irregular and sometimes late night
hours. There are many different types of surgeons that work in many types of environments with
work hours that vary depending on the type of Surgeon. Becoming a surgeon takes many years of
studying and hard work. To become a surgeon a person must first have a bachelor degree. No
specific major is required, but one must have completed their undergraduate course of study in
either Biology, Chemistry, or Health Sciences ("Physicians and Surgeons"). Upon completing the
undergraduate degree, the surgeon to be must enroll in medical school. Medical schools are highly
competitive, so one must have very good studying habits ("Surgeons"). After graduation from
medical school, it is time to begin an internship. The internship is on the job training to learn how
to be a surgeon by working with a surgeon who has already completed his internship and residency.
After completing an internship, one must then start a residency. A residency usually takes place in
a hospital and varies in duration, usually lasting three to eight years depending on the type of
surgeon a person wants to be ("Physicians and Surgeons"). "During residency one will assist on and
perform basic surgeries while being supervised" ("Surgeons"). As residency advances, residents gain

Traditional Medicine Essay
What is traditional medicine
Traditional medicine developed over generations within various societies before the era of modern
medicine .It's all about the knowledge, skills, and practices based on the theories, beliefs, and
experiences indigenous to different cultures used in the maintenance of health as well as in the
prevention ,diagnosis and treatment of physical and mental illness.
In some Asian and African countries almost up to 80%pf the population relies ontraditional medicine
for health care needs. Practices known as traditional medicines include ayurveda, siddha medicine,
ancient Iranian medicine; Chinese medicine, Korean and African traditional medicine, and core
discipline which study traditional medicine include...show more content...
It is becoming more mainstream as improvements in analysis and quality control along with
advances in clinical research which shows the value of herbal medicine in improving and treating
diseases.
The history of herbal medicine
Plants have been used for medicinal purposes long before recorded history. Ancient Chinese and
Egyptian papyrus (a material prepared in ancient Egypt from the pithy stem of a water plant used
for writing or painting on and also for making articles) writing describe medicinal uses for plants as
early as 3000 BC. Indigenous cultures such as African and Native Americans used herbs in their
healing rituals while others developed traditional medical systems such as traditional Chinese
medicine in which herbal therapies were used, and also researchers found out that people in
different parts of the world tended to use the same or similar plants for the same purposes.
In the early 19th century when chemical analysis became available scientists began to extract and
modify the ingredients from plants and later they began making their own version of plants
compounds and over the time the use of herbal medicine declined in favor of drugs ,and also the
world health organization estimated that 80% of people worldwide rely on herbal medicine for
some part of their primary health care, and in Germany about 600 to 700 plants based medicine are
available and are prescribed by 70% of German

The Impact of Chemistry on Medicine Essay example
Chemistry has had a large impact on medicine as we know it today. In fact medicine would have
never gotten as advanced as it has today without chemistry to help it out. Everything that medicine
does is based on chemistry at its core. A long time ago when there was not nearly as much
knowledge of chemistry and the medicine was much more basic as well. All of medicine is made
of different elements in one way or another. Chemistry will probably also have impacts on the
discoveries in medicine yet to come. Back in the 1200's the human race had just discovered the
circulation of blood. That shows how far we have come with modern medicine. Things like vaccines
and even genetics such as DNA would never have been discovered if it was not for...show more
content...
Cis–platin, a form of platinum has been known to be an effective cure form more than one form
of cancer. A different form of medicine that elements are a big part of is dentistry. Over sixty tons
of gold are used for things such as fillings every year. Even elements that are known to be
radioactive have found their place in medical studies. After hearing all of that I believe it is safe
to say that elements or chemistry in general has had a large impact on medicine as a whole.
Before medicine was like it is today there was a much higher fatality rate after getting sick. It didn't
really matter what you got sick with considering treatment was not a very common thing in the
1200's. Most women died during or after child birth due to the lack of sanitation. There were no
cough drops for when people had a sore throat. Things such as the flu would cause death much more
frequently just because there was very limited treatment for it in a world where blood circulation
was a newfound discovery. One of the restrictions on past medicine is the elements used being
readily available. Obviously it wasn't as easy to get access to things such as magnesium back then
as it is today. That fact alone would limit the growth of medicine for some time. But as chemists
began making discoveries other fields of science grew as well. Throughout history chemistry has had
a large impact on the field of medicine. Things such as

A Career in Medicine Essay
A Career in Medicine
My experiences at home have helped prepare me for a career in medicine I grew up in an
economically depressed area in San Francisco where my mother was a single parent. Growing up
without a father, I developed self–confidence and a sense of independence at an early age. In order to
help my mother financially, I unloaded produce trucks during my years in high school. As a result, I
was unable to enjoy many of the activities most youngsters enjoy. However, I am thankful for the
determination and inner–strength I developed while overcoming the hardships I faced.
After graduating from Lowell High School, I entered the University of California, Berkeley. The
topic of nutrition interested me....show more content...
I felt a need to share the knowledge I was acquiring with others in my community. Therefore, I
accepted a position as a chemistry tutor in the Minority Scholars Program. For the past three years,
I have taught a preparatory course for incoming freshman in addition to tutoring inorganic and
organic chemistry. In my interactions with my students I have served as a role model as well as a
teacher. I worked hard to sharpen my student's analytical skills, but more importantly, I was able to
ease the culture shock that many students felt upon matriculation at Berkeley.
My two years of work as a volunteer orthopedic technician and emergency room volunteer at San
Francisco General Hospital have shown me the rewards of a career in medicine. My duties at
SFGH varied from assisting in general emergency room and surgical procedures to assisting in
reduction of fractures. In each case, I derived satisfaction from the fact that my actions contributed to
the well–being of others.
In the area where I grew up, there are few accessible positive role models. Unfortunately the
youngsters admire the criminals that drive expensive cars. Most youths feel that music, or drugs
are the only alternatives available to them. As a practicing black physician in my community, I
could serve as a positive role model for these youngsters. I feel well prepared to face the problems
that young

Why Study Medicine Essay
Why study medicine? Since the moment I decide to study it, I asked that question a hundred
times and I always tried to find the seed that can explain my passion for study this vocation.
Seeking the answer, I realize that the seed, the source of the emotion I felt towards this profession
was born with the experiences that I encounter during my twenty years of life. The first
circumstance that the seed was born was when I was a child of five years old in a moment of
helplessness. At that moment, I was asked about what I wanted to be when I grow up and my
answer was that I aspire to be a doctor to save my father who had been diagnosed with AIDS and I
didn't wanted him to go far away from me. As the years passed, my desire for medicine was still
growing further. When I was seven years old I witnessed my mom giving birth to my second sister
when doctors thought it was dangerous for her health. At the age of nine, I saw my grandmother
...show more content...
However, I know that I can assist other families regain their health. Even though I didn't ask for
anything in return, sciences and medicine had given me the satisfaction of seeing people alive
and healthy. For this reason, I desire to educate myself in medicine because I want to prepare
myself, thus I can be able to succor all those people who shared their stories, experiences, advices
and in general, their life with me during high school and college. I intend to study medicine
because I want to be able to improve the quality of people's lives. My thirst of knowledge for
sciences and medicine, the fervor to serve others and the impact of the doctors that helped my
family had been the nutrients that help my seed for Medicine to keep growing and drive
commitment to follow my vocation in medicine. Genuinely, I consider that deciding to study
medicine is to choose a way of life, a way of being someone, not a way to do

Essay on Osteopathic Medicine
Osteopathic Medicine
I. Introduction of the D.O.
Currently there are two main types of licensed physicians in the United States. The first is the
medical doctor or the allopathic doctor. About 95% of licensed doctors have been educated at one
of over 120 allopathic medical schools and have thus obtained a medical doctor degree (M.D.). The
second type of doctor, the doctor of osteopathy, is less common. Osteopathic doctors make up about
five percent of the physicians in the nation (Peters 730). Although this represents a significant
amount of physicians many people are unfamiliar with the second type of doctor. In a 1981 the AOA
(American Osteopathic Association) released the results of a survey about public...show more
content...
With the ability to provide alternatives to costly medications and focus on preventive measures, the
osteopathic doctor is the model for affordable health care.
II. Osteopathy: past and present
Dr. Andrew Taylor Still is considered to be the founder of osteopathic medicine. Dr. Still practiced as
an orthodox medical doctor until spinal meningitis claimed the lives of three of his children in 1864.
Convinced that using drugs for the treatment of ailments was not necessarily a scientific form of
therapy, Still searched for alternatives (Gevitz 125). Through interactions with his peers, he began to
see the human body as a "vital mechanical organism, with all its parts structurally and functionally
coordinated" (Berchtold 2). Consequently, health was maintained when all body parts could interact
in a harmonious manner and the flow of bodily fluids was unobstructed (Gevitz 127). Unlike his
allopathic counterparts, Still tended to look at the body as a whole while emphasizing the body's
inherent ability to produce remedies against disease. However, the human body could only take care
of itself if "structural relationship was normal, environmental conditions favorable, and nutrition
satisfactory" (Berchtold 2).
To help restore a patient to health Dr. Still began to use a landmark technique in osteopathic
medicine: osteopathic manipulation. By manipulating bones, muscles and other tissues Still believed
that he

Medicine's Impact on Society Through the Ages

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