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Period: 500 to Dec 31, 1500
The Middle Ages
Science and reason began to replace people's beliefs in spiritual or superstitious causes for illnesses. -
900
Discovery
A Persian doctor named Rhazes discovered the difference between smallpox and measles. He played a role in the development of medicine as a science by building on the ideas of Hippocrates. -
1300
Religion & Medicine
BY the thirteenth century there were scores of hospitals in the Muslim world. Religious instruction based on the Qur'an taught followers social responsibilities, such as the rich providing for the poor and the healthy caring for the sick. -
Period: Jan 1, 1301 to
Renaissance
The period of progress in European medical knowledge. -
1350
The Beginning of Medical Care Regulation
Physicians were licensed after formal training with experienced doctors. Physicians and surgeons received different training. Women were not allowed to practice medicine. -
1400
Jacoba Felicie
A Frenchwoman named Jacoba Felicie was tried for practicing medicine without a license. She defended herself by explaining that women were sometimes embarrassed to go to a male physician for treatment. The judge did not find in her favor, and she was forbidden to practice medicine. -
1500
New Invention
The invention of the printing press made it possible to publish books faster. Information about new discoveries could be spread quickly. -
1540
Barbershops
In the middle ages, barbers cut more than hair. Barber-surgeons performed surgery to treat cataracts and practiced phlebotomy. They also served with the military and treated injuries sustained to battle. They amputated limbs and burned the stumps to seal the blood vessels. -
Scientific Method
This method came into use in Europe. This was a major change in the way people thought about medicine and research. Instead of using guesswork or the super-natural to explain events and diseases, people began to look for the real causes of what they saw around them. -
Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke built one of the first reflecting microscopes. -
Discovery of Microscopes
The microscope, which allowed much more accurate observation of patients and symptoms. Doctors could propose an explanation of disease and test it by experimentation and observation. -
The Age of Enlightenment
Studies of the human anatomy took place. -
Period: to
Industrial Revolution
The general introduction of power-driven machinery. -
Edward Jenner
An English doctor, discovered that milkmaids exposed to cowpox did not get smallpox. Later on in 1796 he began inoculating people with fluid, beginning the practice of vaccination. -
Louis Pateur
Louis carried out experiments that became the basis for modern microbiology. -
Joseph Lister
Joseph was ridiculed for insisting on the use of carbolic soap to disinfect instruments and clean hands before doctors moved to another patient. -
Robert Koch
He discovered that pathogens, or disease and producing microorganisms, are the source of some diseases and proved that Lister was correct. This was the beginning of modern bacteriology. -
Organisms
Connections between the structure and the function of an organism was made, and further discoveries followed. -
Painless surgery?
The use of ether as an anesthetic began during this period. It made painless surgery possible. -
Joseph Murray
In 1954, the first ever successful transplant of any organ was done by Dr. Joseph Murray. Now, organ transplants are now common, and are safer and more successful than ever before. -
Period: to
Modern World
Discoveries in electronics and computer science changed clinical medicine dramatically. -
Medical Practices
Advances in engineering, chemistry, and physics have contributed to current medical practice. Antibiotics were also invented at this time. -
Vitro fertilization
Vitro fertilization allows many infertile couples to have children. -
Cancer
Radium. used for cancer treatment, was discovered. -
Clinical medicine
Discoveries in electronics and computer science changed clinical medicine dramatically. -
Period: to
21st century
The rapid progress in science and technology is expected to continue through the twenty-first century and bring many more changes and challenges the healthcare professionals. -
Easier and Faster
Electronic health records and electronic communication provide instant transmission of information. Surgeries are performed with intricate computerized equipment. People in many areas of the world are living longer and healthier lives because of vaccines, clean water, and better nutrition. The completion of the Human Genome Project and the use of stem cells has opened doors to new types of individualized drugs and treatments.
