What is Medical?
Medical is the study of the health of people and animals. It includes the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases and injuries. Medical doctors are called physicians and they have an extremely important job, as they can save lives and ease the suffering of patients. A physician’s qualifications vary around the world, but typically include medical school and supervised training. Physicians are regulated by medical boards in most countries to ensure that they have the proper education and skills to practice medicine safely.
A physician must be trained in modern scientific biomedical research methods. This replaced the early Western traditions based on herbalism, the Greek “four humours” and other pre-modern notions. The modern era of medicine really began with Edward Jenner’s creation of the smallpox vaccine in 1761 and Robert Koch’s discovery of bacteria and antibiotics in the 1880’s.
Medical is a very broad field and encompasses many different areas of science. Examples of these are pharmacology (the study of medicines) and microbiology (the study of viruses, bacteria and other microscopic organisms). Medical physics studies the application of physics principles in medicine. Other important fields of study are genetics and neuroscience.
A medical journal is a periodical publication that may be written for a variety of purposes. It can publish new clinical or non-clinical knowledge, consolidate and review existing knowledge, provide opinion and commentary, or report on the logistics or economics of providing care.
The most common type of article in a medical journal is the case report or vignette. These articles present a detailed description of an observed medical event or patient encounter. They are often written in a narrative style and can be moving. Other articles in a medical journal can be technical reports, summaries of research or review papers, or images such as CT scans, ultrasounds, or MRI’s. Some journals also have departments that feature personal essays or artwork describing the human elements of medicine.
To understand these articles, it is helpful to know some medical terminology. The structure of medical terms follows the same rules as all other languages, with root words and suffixes. To help you memorize these, consider making flash cards of word parts, such as -itis (abnormal inflammation), relapse (a return of symptoms) and a tonsillectomy (surgical removal of the tonsils). A medical dictionary can be very useful in learning this vocabulary.
Medical is the study of the health of people and animals. It includes the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of diseases and injuries. Medical doctors are called physicians and they have an extremely important job, as they can save lives and ease the suffering of patients. A physician’s qualifications vary around the world, but typically include medical school and supervised training. Physicians are regulated by medical boards in most countries to ensure that they have the proper education and skills to practice medicine safely. A physician must be trained in modern scientific biomedical research methods. This replaced the early Western traditions based on herbalism, the Greek “four humours” and other pre-modern notions. The modern era of medicine really began with Edward Jenner’s creation of the smallpox vaccine in 1761 and Robert Koch’s discovery of bacteria and antibiotics in the 1880’s. Medical is a very broad field and encompasses many different areas of science. Examples of these are pharmacology (the study of medicines) and microbiology (the study of viruses, bacteria and other microscopic organisms). Medical physics studies the application of physics principles in medicine. Other important fields of study are genetics and neuroscience. A medical journal is a periodical publication that may be written for a variety of purposes. It can publish new clinical or non-clinical knowledge, consolidate and review existing knowledge, provide opinion and commentary, or report on the logistics or economics of providing care. The most common type of article in a medical journal is the case report or vignette. These articles present a detailed description of an observed medical event or patient encounter. They are often written in a narrative style and can be moving. Other articles in a medical journal can be technical reports, summaries of research or review papers, or images such as CT scans, ultrasounds, or MRI’s. Some journals also have departments that feature personal essays or artwork describing the human elements of medicine. To understand these articles, it is helpful to know some medical terminology. The structure of medical terms follows the same rules as all other languages, with root words and suffixes. To help you memorize these, consider making flash cards of word parts, such as -itis (abnormal inflammation), relapse (a return of symptoms) and a tonsillectomy (surgical removal of the tonsils). A medical dictionary can be very useful in learning this vocabulary.