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3888 BCE
Primitive Times
People believed disease was caused by something supernatural, like demons. Tribal witch doctors treated illness with ceremonies. Herbs and plants were also used to treat sickness. Boring holes in the skull was used to treat insanity and epilepsy. -
3000 BCE
Egyptian Medicine
Egyptians have the earliest form of medical records. They also used leech therapy. They perform root canals and surgeries. These all led to further advancements in medicine. -
2800 BCE
Chinese Medicine
Ancient Chinese used acupuncture, herbal medicine, and massages. These methods are still used today. These are important because they lead to more plant-based methods being used in medicine. -
1200 BCE
Greek Medicine
Developed an organized method to observe the human body. Recorded signs and symptoms of many diseases. Created a high standard of ethics, the Oath of Hippocrates. This greatly advanced medicine and the thought of how disease and bodywork. -
753 BCE
Roman Medicine
Began public health and sanitation systems. Created aqueducts to carry clean water to cities. Built sewers to carry waste materials away from cities. Used filtering systems in public baths to prevent disease.Drained marshes to reduce malaria. These innovations caused fewer diseases to be caught and fewer deaths to occur. -
350 BCE
Hippocrates
Developed and method to observe the human body. Recorded many signs and symptoms of diseases. Created the Oath of Hippocrates. One of the first to believe that disease wasn't caused by evil spirits. He also founded a medical school in Cos, Greece. Was eventually known as the "Father of Medicine". Hippocrates was the first to stress the importance of diagnosis and create an oath of honor making him extremely important. -
165
Claudius Galen
Established many new medical beliefs. The body is regulated by four fluids or humor: blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. Believed an imbalance in these humors caused illness. Described symptoms of inflammation and studied infectious diseases. Dissected animals and found functions of kidneys, muscles, and bladder. -
600
Dark Ages
Prayers and divine intervention were used to try and cure illnesses. Medication was used in the form of herbal mixtures. Life span went down driastically. This was a major set bak in the field of medicine. -
900
Middle Ages
Renewed interest in Greek and Roman medical practices. Physicians began to obtain knowledge at medical universities. Bubonic plague killed over three-quarters of the population in Europe and Asia. Arab physicians began to be required to pass examinations and get licensed. Medical knowledge began to increase with physicians having to go to universities and they became more skilled because of having to get licensed. -
1100
Rhazes
Based on diagnosis on observations of the signs and symptoms of the disease. Founded a way to distinguish smallpox and measles. Suggested blood was what cause many infectious diseases. Began to use animal guts as suture material. His thoughts on how disease was caused were extremely important in changing how we see disease. -
1535
Michael Servetus
Describe how the circulatory system in the lungs worked. Explained how digestion worked and is a source of heat for the body. Both these discoveries helped further our understanding of the body. -
1550
Renaissance
Rebirth of medical science. Dissection of bodies began to better understand anatomy and physiology. Frist chairs of medicine were created at Oxford and Cambridge Universities in England. The first book on anatomy was written by Andreas Vesalius and the first dietetics book was written by Issac Judaeus. This era included many large advancements in medicine and the spread of medical knowledge to the general public. -
1570
Ambroise Pare
Established use of ligatures to bind arteries and stop bleeding. Eliminated the use of boiling oil to cauterize wounds. Improved treatment for fractures. Promoted use of artificial limbs. Made large strides in surgery. -
Anto van Leeuwenhoek
Built a microscope with increased magnification. This allowed it to be possible to discover microorganisms and study them and diseases. -
John Hunter
Helped to further the field of surgery. Introduced tube feeding and established scientific surgical producers. Aso help in making surgery more sanitary. -
Louis Pasteur
Made many critical discoveries in the medical field. Proved that microorganisms cause disease. Pasture milk to kill disease. Created a vaccine for rabbies. Help attribute to modern germ theory. -
Paul Ehrlich
Developed methods to detect and differentiate between various diseases. Also developed the foundation for modern theories of immunity, and used chemicals to eliminate microorganisms. -
Florence Nightingale
Founder of modern nursing. Established an efficient and sanitary nursing unit during Crimean War. Opened Nightingale School and Home for Nurses at St.Thomas' Hospital in London. Began the professional education of nurses. Made large strides for women in the medical field. -
19th Centuries
Royal College of Surgeons(medical school) was founded in 1800. The first vaccine was licensed in 1813. Some treatment for mental illness began. American Medical Association was formed. Bateria that caused gonorrhea and leprosy was discovered and identified. This first finding of germs causing disease was a huge change in medicine. -
Francis Crick and James Waston
Discovered the structure of DNA. Then built the model to show how it looks and functions. This was crucial in how we understand DNA today and how we understand genetics.