The Black Death led medieval European doctors to make advancements in medicine in order to save their patients lives. Doctors had never seen anything like the Bubonic plague before, so when it first arrived in Europe they had no idea how to treat it. This led to doctors searching for new ways to treat their suffering patients. For example, in the book Life During the Black Death, John M. Dunn explains how medieval thinkers believed that in order to treat the plague they needed to restore equilibrium throughout the body. An example of this method of treatment would be feeding a patient cold food in order to bring down their fever (58). This displays how some doctors were stuck in the medieval age of medicine which is why they were unable to
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Doctors began to actually study science rather than giving a diagnosis based on what they thought they already knew. This progression is described in the website article “How the Black Death Worked” written by Molly Edmonds. Edmonds describes the change in the focus of medicine by explaining that educators were "frustrated with Black Death diagnoses that revolved around astrology and superstition, educators began placing greater emphasis on clinical medicine, based on physical science” (para. 2). Since educators now put a greater focus on scientific education, this lead to advancements in medicine. Future doctors were educated so that they could make proper diagnoses, because of the disaster that the Black Death was. Education of physicians was not the only advancement towards modern medicine. Many believe that those who provided patients with treatment were “forerunners of the modern pharmacists, these herbalists used their knowledge of plants to provide a variety of medicines, both curatives and preventatives” (Dunn 63). When a patient was struck with the plague, these herbalists would prescribe them medicine, similar as to how pharmacists work today. This shows how the plague influenced the field of medicine and caused it to become more modernized because herbalists developed a role very similar to the role of pharmacists today. Although medieval European doctors truly did struggle with treatment of the Bubonic plague, it caused Europe to make major advancements in medicine that would not have happened without the
Doctors began to actually study science rather than giving a diagnosis based on what they thought they already knew. This progression is described in the website article “How the Black Death Worked” written by Molly Edmonds. Edmonds describes the change in the focus of medicine by explaining that educators were "frustrated with Black Death diagnoses that revolved around astrology and superstition, educators began placing greater emphasis on clinical medicine, based on physical science” (para. 2). Since educators now put a greater focus on scientific education, this lead to advancements in medicine. Future doctors were educated so that they could make proper diagnoses, because of the disaster that the Black Death was. Education of physicians was not the only advancement towards modern medicine. Many believe that those who provided patients with treatment were “forerunners of the modern pharmacists, these herbalists used their knowledge of plants to provide a variety of medicines, both curatives and preventatives” (Dunn 63). When a patient was struck with the plague, these herbalists would prescribe them medicine, similar as to how pharmacists work today. This shows how the plague influenced the field of medicine and caused it to become more modernized because herbalists developed a role very similar to the role of pharmacists today. Although medieval European doctors truly did struggle with treatment of the Bubonic plague, it caused Europe to make major advancements in medicine that would not have happened without the