Islamic Hospital History

In the Middle East, during the Middle Ages, Islamic hospitals had a greater variety of roles. Islam believes that everyone who was ill should receive treatment, whether they were able to pay for it or not. Their hospitals were large buildings in the cities, and were open to all, without question. An Islamic hospital served many purposes: it was a place to receive medical treatment, a place for the mentally insane, a place to receive care while recovering from a sickness or an accident, and a retirement home for those who had no family who could take care of their needs. Those with wealth and prestige would not go to the hospital but would be given medical care at home. One of the first documented Islamic hospitals was erected in the 9th …show more content…
An Italian doctor, Girolamo Fracastoro, suggested that epidemics could possible by caused by pathogens from without the body which could be transmitted from person to person. An English physician, William Harvey, defined the circulation system and properties of the blood. Leonardo Da Vinci dissected human corpses and used them to draw studies of the bones, muscles, and tendons of the human body. He had over 200 pages of drawings along with notes on the human anatomy. Da Vinci also studied the human bones, and how the muscles worked to make them move. Another physician, Ambroise Paré, was a renowned surgeon and treated many patients from the battlefield. After running out of one medicine, he substituted turpentine and the next day discovered that those he had treated with turpentine were healed. Even with such wonderful discoveries during the Renaissance Period, the way physicians diagnosed patients was not much different from the Middle Ages. They did not know how to cure the infectious diseases that were rampant and had spread during that time, like the plague and syphilis. The Black Death, known as the Black Plague, came to Europe by the way of the sea in 1347. During the next five years, it would kill over 20 million people in Europe. Many physicians used bloodletting along with lancing the boils to solve the plague. By early 1350, the disease was over although it kept coming back every few generations for many …show more content…
These hospitals were run by agencies from the city, state, up to the federal government. Non-profits, churches, and for-profit hospitals were also part of the mix. Many research hospitals were connected with medical schools. During this era, physicians realized that clean operating rooms were an integral part of being able to halt the transmission of germs and infections. Hospital standards were accepted and the American College of Surgeons begin inspecting hospitals. This program ultimately became the Joint Commission. Many scientific developments and medical discoveries occurred. Physicians became people of high regard, but hospital stays were usually long and patients were not afforded the respect they should have been. Hospitals for the sick were becoming a community responsibility, with a shift toward public funding. In the United States, hospitals were transformed into modern day, expensive sites for science and technology. Hospitals became great institutions and their goals were the cures they could achieve by the use of professional workforce and equipment. Urinalysis was usually repeated quite frequently while a patient was in the hospital, so it became the first repetitive diagnostic test. X-rays became a diagnostic tool used by hospitals, especially in the case of suspected broken bones. Hospital operating rooms became safer, and they had all the equipment needed to perform surgery, labs, and x-rays.