The Field of Medicine
Medical is the field of science and practice concerned with human health, disease and cure. Medicine encompasses a wide range of sciences, practices and professions, including health care, laboratory research, biomedical engineering, pharmaceuticals and public health. Physicians, whose education and licensing is in medicine, often subspecialize into specific areas of the field. In advanced industrial countries, all citizens are covered by some form of universal healthcare, which guarantees the payment of health costs. This is usually provided by a mix of private and government-run hospitals, group purchasing organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, medical insurance companies, etc.
Medications are the core of treatment for most medical conditions, and many of these medications are developed through a collaborative process that involves scientists in multiple disciplines. The field of medicinal chemistry, for example, is focused on understanding the interactions of chemical compounds with biological systems and establishing their utility. The field of molecular biology includes research on cell structure and function, cellular development and genetics. Biomedical engineering combines physics, mathematics, chemistry and biology to analyze the mechanical properties of the body’s biological systems and develop devices for medical use.
The field of medicine also includes public health, pharmacology and physiology. Public health is a broad area that addresses threats to the population’s health, such as communicable diseases, environmental hazards and other problems. Pharmacology is the study of the effects of drug administration on the body’s normal functioning and on disease. Physiology is the branch of biology that describes and studies the function of bodily systems, such as the heart, blood vessels and respiratory system.
Another important aspect of the field of medicine is medical terminology, which describes anatomical structures, procedures and conditions in the medical profession. It is a complex and highly specialized language that can seem like a foreign language to those not in the field of medicine. However, like any language, it can be learned. The simplest approach is to remember that most words in medical terminology have prefixes, roots and suffixes.
Medical is a vast and diverse field with many sub-fields that include animal health (veterinary medicine), conservation medicine (the study of the relationship between human and non-human animals and the environment), disaster medicine, diving medicine, forensic medicine (the identification and restoration of facial features from remains of deceased individuals) and evolutionary medicine (a perspective on medicine based on an application of evolutionary theory). Veterinary medicine was first fully separated from medical in 1761. Other fields of medicine include psychiatry, which is the study of mental illness; adolescent health; and addiction medicine. Some of the most interesting medical research topics focus on human diseases and disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS, autism and chronic liver and kidney diseases. Medical research is ongoing and constantly changing as new diseases are discovered and treatments are developed. A few good medical research paper topics could focus on how to increase the efficiency of vaccines for diseases such as polio, influenza and meningitis.
Medical is the field of science and practice concerned with human health, disease and cure. Medicine encompasses a wide range of sciences, practices and professions, including health care, laboratory research, biomedical engineering, pharmaceuticals and public health. Physicians, whose education and licensing is in medicine, often subspecialize into specific areas of the field. In advanced industrial countries, all citizens are covered by some form of universal healthcare, which guarantees the payment of health costs. This is usually provided by a mix of private and government-run hospitals, group purchasing organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, medical insurance companies, etc. Medications are the core of treatment for most medical conditions, and many of these medications are developed through a collaborative process that involves scientists in multiple disciplines. The field of medicinal chemistry, for example, is focused on understanding the interactions of chemical compounds with biological systems and establishing their utility. The field of molecular biology includes research on cell structure and function, cellular development and genetics. Biomedical engineering combines physics, mathematics, chemistry and biology to analyze the mechanical properties of the body’s biological systems and develop devices for medical use. The field of medicine also includes public health, pharmacology and physiology. Public health is a broad area that addresses threats to the population’s health, such as communicable diseases, environmental hazards and other problems. Pharmacology is the study of the effects of drug administration on the body’s normal functioning and on disease. Physiology is the branch of biology that describes and studies the function of bodily systems, such as the heart, blood vessels and respiratory system. Another important aspect of the field of medicine is medical terminology, which describes anatomical structures, procedures and conditions in the medical profession. It is a complex and highly specialized language that can seem like a foreign language to those not in the field of medicine. However, like any language, it can be learned. The simplest approach is to remember that most words in medical terminology have prefixes, roots and suffixes. Medical is a vast and diverse field with many sub-fields that include animal health (veterinary medicine), conservation medicine (the study of the relationship between human and non-human animals and the environment), disaster medicine, diving medicine, forensic medicine (the identification and restoration of facial features from remains of deceased individuals) and evolutionary medicine (a perspective on medicine based on an application of evolutionary theory). Veterinary medicine was first fully separated from medical in 1761. Other fields of medicine include psychiatry, which is the study of mental illness; adolescent health; and addiction medicine. Some of the most interesting medical research topics focus on human diseases and disorders, such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, AIDS, autism and chronic liver and kidney diseases. Medical research is ongoing and constantly changing as new diseases are discovered and treatments are developed. A few good medical research paper topics could focus on how to increase the efficiency of vaccines for diseases such as polio, influenza and meningitis.