What Is Medical?
Medical is a broad term that encompasses several healthcare specialties, including but not limited to medicine, surgery and dentistry. Medical research, education and practice focus on the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of disease and injury. The training for doctors varies worldwide but generally involves university medical school, then supervised residency training and specialized postgraduate vocational training in sub-specialties like internal medicine, surgery or ophthalmology.
The study of medicine includes many aspects of human biology, such as physiology (study of body functions and processes), anatomy and pathology (study of disease). Molecular biology and evolutionary genetics are important in modern medical practices, especially in the field of genomics. The chemistry of drugs and the study of how they affect human bodies are also major components of medicine.
Other specialized areas of medicine include pharmacology, which studies pharmaceutical medications, or drugs, and how they are created, where they come from, what they consist of, and their effects on the body; nutrition (study of food and its effect on health); radiology (study of how to use diagnostic equipment such as X-rays and imaging machines to detect problems); toxicology, which studies poisons and their effects, how they are used in crime, and ways to prevent them; and a variety of other fields.
Medical research often begins as a theory designed to answer a question. Then the process of clinical trials can be used to validate or disprove that theory. Medical researchers continue to improve on past theories, and some of them make groundbreaking discoveries that help us live longer, healthier lives.
As with any language, medical terminology has its own specialized vocabulary. While learning the words may be daunting at first, a few helpful tips and tricks can make it easier to remember. For instance, learning how to pronounce the root words can help you figure out the meaning of a word, which may be a key component to its success in your memory. Some medical roots are intuitive, based on your experiences: Cardiovascular exercise is known as cardiovascular exercise because it gets your heart rate up. Other roots have Greek or Latin prefixes and suffixes, which are similar to the structure of most English words.
Some of the most interesting areas of medical study are those that look at the way in which medicine interacts with society. For example, some scholars believe that in the past, societies medicalized social problems. This was sometimes a good thing, such as when obstetrics led to the development of birth control. But other times it was not, such as when eugenics programs were used to select children based on their parents’ diseases or disabilities.
If you are considering a career in the medical industry, be sure to check your criminal record before beginning training. Some roles require you to drive, and your medical records could be accessed by law enforcement, so it is essential that your driving history is clean. Other responsibilities that may involve working with sensitive populations, such as pediatrics or geriatrics, will also require a background check.
Medical is a broad term that encompasses several healthcare specialties, including but not limited to medicine, surgery and dentistry. Medical research, education and practice focus on the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of disease and injury. The training for doctors varies worldwide but generally involves university medical school, then supervised residency training and specialized postgraduate vocational training in sub-specialties like internal medicine, surgery or ophthalmology. The study of medicine includes many aspects of human biology, such as physiology (study of body functions and processes), anatomy and pathology (study of disease). Molecular biology and evolutionary genetics are important in modern medical practices, especially in the field of genomics. The chemistry of drugs and the study of how they affect human bodies are also major components of medicine. Other specialized areas of medicine include pharmacology, which studies pharmaceutical medications, or drugs, and how they are created, where they come from, what they consist of, and their effects on the body; nutrition (study of food and its effect on health); radiology (study of how to use diagnostic equipment such as X-rays and imaging machines to detect problems); toxicology, which studies poisons and their effects, how they are used in crime, and ways to prevent them; and a variety of other fields. Medical research often begins as a theory designed to answer a question. Then the process of clinical trials can be used to validate or disprove that theory. Medical researchers continue to improve on past theories, and some of them make groundbreaking discoveries that help us live longer, healthier lives. As with any language, medical terminology has its own specialized vocabulary. While learning the words may be daunting at first, a few helpful tips and tricks can make it easier to remember. For instance, learning how to pronounce the root words can help you figure out the meaning of a word, which may be a key component to its success in your memory. Some medical roots are intuitive, based on your experiences: Cardiovascular exercise is known as cardiovascular exercise because it gets your heart rate up. Other roots have Greek or Latin prefixes and suffixes, which are similar to the structure of most English words. Some of the most interesting areas of medical study are those that look at the way in which medicine interacts with society. For example, some scholars believe that in the past, societies medicalized social problems. This was sometimes a good thing, such as when obstetrics led to the development of birth control. But other times it was not, such as when eugenics programs were used to select children based on their parents’ diseases or disabilities. If you are considering a career in the medical industry, be sure to check your criminal record before beginning training. Some roles require you to drive, and your medical records could be accessed by law enforcement, so it is essential that your driving history is clean. Other responsibilities that may involve working with sensitive populations, such as pediatrics or geriatrics, will also require a background check.