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4000 BCE
Ancient Times
In this era, people believed that illness was caused by supernatural beings. The average lifespan for a person was 30 years. Imhotep was the first physician. The medical advances that the ancient times had were hospitals and nurses, many types of surgeries, and knowledge of drugs. -
500
Middle Ages
The major medical advancement was the formation of the first true medical school and it taught both anatomy and and surgery. Rhazes was known as the Arab Hippocrates and he discovered that blood was the cause of many infections. he also developed the first form of stitches by using animal-gut sutures to sew wounds. -
1300
Renaissance
The Bubonic Plague killed over one-third of the population. Medical researchers began to reject their commitment to religion. The average lifespan for a person was 40 years. -
Industrial Revolution
Louis Pasteur discovered that microorganisms were to blame. He developed a system of destroying microorganisms through heating and sealing (pasteurization). Joseph Lister discovered that microorganisms were the cause of infection and developed methods of medical asepsis. -
Modern Era
Sir Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin. Wilhelm von Roentgen developed a tool that changed medical procedures (x-ray machine). The new medical advances of the modern era were structure and the function of DNA, organ transplants, vitro fertilization, and childhood vaccinations.
