Hippocrates As The Father Of Medicine

Greek and Roman doctors played a crucial role in the development of medicine and physician practices. Hippocrates of Greece is considered to be the “Father of Medicine.” Hippocrates successor Galen is known as the “Prince of Physicians.” The treatments and ideas of these two people lasted for over 1000 years. It wasn’t until the 16th centuries that their ideas began to face some questions and criticism. People reacted to the criticism with outrage… after all these theories and practices had been around for so long, how could they be wrong? Like many ancient societies, medicine and religion were intertwined in ancient Greece. People thought that gods could both cause and cure illnesses. It was thought that if you said the right prayer and …show more content…
He was born around on Cos, an island of Greece. Hippocrates transformed medicine, he established it as profession and set high standards for physicians.# Not only was he a physician but he was also a professor, he taught medical students to very carefully observe their patients then to select the correct treatment. He thought that it was extremely important to document his case studies, which is why we have so much knowledge about his practices today. His approach to observing and examining patients is still used by physicians. Another thing that Hippocrates understood well was that plants and herbs could be used as medicine. He recommended that extract of willow bark be used as means of pain relief for women during childbirth. Doctors today even agree on Hippocrates advice that the key to health is through diet and …show more content…
Greek physicians believed that the body was made up of four humors; phlegm, blood, yellow bile and black bile. Each humor was associated with a different natural substance, a specific moisture and temperature, and a certain part of the body, and a certain season. For example, yellow bile represent fire, dry and hot, the liver, and summer. So if a patient had a fever, their body was hot and dry. So the physician believed the patient had too much yellow bile. He would then try to restore balance by increasing the patient’s phlegm for which he might prescribe a cold bath. Greek physicians would often try to rid patient’s of excess humors. They may try to reach this goal through various actions such as blood letting or prescribing hellebore which could cause vomiting or diarrhea. In many cases these actions did not help the patients but instead killed them.# The modern medical term anatomy comes from ancient Greek words that mean “to cut up.” Anatomy is one of the first courses that doctors are required to take. It is the basis for everything else. The ancient Greeks laid the ground work for this area of medical science. In 500 B.C. a man named Alemaeon was the first person to dissect human bodies for scientific studies. He wrote descriptions of the optic nerve in the eye and the Eustachian tube inside the ear.