What Is Medical?
Medical means relating to illness and injuries or to their treatment or prevention. It covers a broad range of subjects, from the study of cells to the practice of acupuncture.
Modern medicine relies on a wide range of trained health professionals working as an interdisciplinary team. They include nurses, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, dietitians, and pharmacists. Other highly specialised personnel such as radiologists, clinical biochemists and clinical pharmacologists are also important parts of the healthcare team.
Some people are more prone to certain illnesses and need extra care to maintain their good health. These patients often join medical support groups to increase their knowledge of their condition and connect with others in a similar situation. These groups may be run by a professional health organisation (such as the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre), non-profit organisations or by individuals who have experience with the condition (such as a patient or carer).
The scope and sciences underpinning modern medical practice are vast and varied. Some of the most well-known specialties are endocrinology (the study of hormones), epidemiology (the tracking of disease in populations) and genetics (the study of genes and their impact on a person’s physical structure and susceptibility to disease).
Other fields include conservation medicine (which looks at human and animal health in relation to environmental conditions), diving medicine (or hyperbaric medicine), forensic medicine (which investigates crime scenes for evidence of trauma or death) and evolutionary medicine (which draws on insights from evolutionary theory).
A person’s medical records are usually stored in several places, each with its own computer system. A person requesting information about another person’s record must provide their name and contact details, along with the medical record number of the person they are seeking information about. They must also supply proof of their relationship with the person who is the subject of the record, such as a birth certificate or marriage certificate. They must also give written permission to access the record, and, if the person is incapacitated, this must be in the form of a power of attorney for health care and finances or a durable power of attorney.
Those who are entitled to request someone else’s medical records can do so with the help of a medical practitioner or by filling in a specific form provided by the health organisation where the record is held. The organisation will require specific details such as the date of birth, medical record number and doctor or clinic within that practice. It will also need to know where the person lives and their address, as this information is required to comply with laws on privacy and data protection. The organisation will tell the person whose records they are requesting if there is any reason why the record should not be released to them. This includes circumstances when the person is no longer capable of making their own decisions, for example if they have become a patient of an aged care or disability service or are receiving care at home.
Medical means relating to illness and injuries or to their treatment or prevention. It covers a broad range of subjects, from the study of cells to the practice of acupuncture. Modern medicine relies on a wide range of trained health professionals working as an interdisciplinary team. They include nurses, emergency medical technicians and paramedics, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech therapists, dietitians, and pharmacists. Other highly specialised personnel such as radiologists, clinical biochemists and clinical pharmacologists are also important parts of the healthcare team. Some people are more prone to certain illnesses and need extra care to maintain their good health. These patients often join medical support groups to increase their knowledge of their condition and connect with others in a similar situation. These groups may be run by a professional health organisation (such as the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre), non-profit organisations or by individuals who have experience with the condition (such as a patient or carer). The scope and sciences underpinning modern medical practice are vast and varied. Some of the most well-known specialties are endocrinology (the study of hormones), epidemiology (the tracking of disease in populations) and genetics (the study of genes and their impact on a person’s physical structure and susceptibility to disease). Other fields include conservation medicine (which looks at human and animal health in relation to environmental conditions), diving medicine (or hyperbaric medicine), forensic medicine (which investigates crime scenes for evidence of trauma or death) and evolutionary medicine (which draws on insights from evolutionary theory). A person’s medical records are usually stored in several places, each with its own computer system. A person requesting information about another person’s record must provide their name and contact details, along with the medical record number of the person they are seeking information about. They must also supply proof of their relationship with the person who is the subject of the record, such as a birth certificate or marriage certificate. They must also give written permission to access the record, and, if the person is incapacitated, this must be in the form of a power of attorney for health care and finances or a durable power of attorney. Those who are entitled to request someone else’s medical records can do so with the help of a medical practitioner or by filling in a specific form provided by the health organisation where the record is held. The organisation will require specific details such as the date of birth, medical record number and doctor or clinic within that practice. It will also need to know where the person lives and their address, as this information is required to comply with laws on privacy and data protection. The organisation will tell the person whose records they are requesting if there is any reason why the record should not be released to them. This includes circumstances when the person is no longer capable of making their own decisions, for example if they have become a patient of an aged care or disability service or are receiving care at home.