Conventional Medicine

Conventional medicine is the name used to describe modern, scientifically grounded medicine. Other names used to describe conventional medicine are allopathic medicine, biomedicine, mainstream medicine, orthodox medicine, regular medicine, scientific medicine, the Hippocratic tradition, or Western medicine. Its practitioners hold degrees such as medical doctor (M.D.), or doctor of osteopathy. There are now many subspecialties such as cardiology, ophthalmology, podiatry, pulmonology, neurological surgery, internal medicine, gynecology, pediatrics, oncology, rheumatology, and others.

Allied with conventional medicine are other health professions whose clinicians are licensed to work with patients. These include registered nurses, physical therapists, physician's assistants, nutritionists, and others who promote the health and well being of patients. Pharmacists and others also supply drugs or special concoctions for patients with unique needs.

Conventional medicine is often called Western medicine in third world countries. It may at times be allied with traditional older medical practices such as Chinese medicine to become complementary medicine. Medical alternatives offered to patients who may be beyond the aid of conventional medicine are called naturopathy.

Western medicine uses the scientific method to investigate medical phenomena related to diseases or injuries. The investigations are of the body or of the mind, as in the case of psychology. It also uses the scientific method to develop surgical techniques, drugs, and other instruments for healing.

Western medicine began with the Greeks. The writings of Hippocrates and Galen were studied in the ancient world, and they were translated into Syriac in Persia beginning in the 7th century, shortly before the Arab conquests. The Arabs and their other ethnic converts such as the Persians found that Christians and Jews had medical knowledge that was far superior to that which they brought from the desert. The works of the Greek physicians were translated into Arabic, and to this body of knowledge was added the medical knowledge of the Persians and the Hindus of India. During the flourishing centuries of the Islamic empire many Arabic-speaking Moslems, Jews, and Christians preserved and developed medical knowledge. Hospitals were established and medical schools such the one operated by Moses Maimonides in Egypt trained physicians.

The Crusades in the Holy Land and the Christian recovery of Spain from the Moors opened opportunities for the transmission of Greco-Arabic medical knowledge into Europe. The medical works were studied and mastered by scholars who served as physicians in an observational and theoretical manner. By the time of the Reformation medical knowledge and practices were changing. The experimental method was advocated by philosophers like Francis Bacon and later by physicians like John Locke.

As the experimental method moved medical study away from a scholastic method, it became necessary to [Page 449]develop instruments for conducting experiments. An alliance between craftsmen and physicians with a classical training in medical knowledge allowed the building of many useful devices for studying diseases and for use in healing. Scientists such as William Harvey studied and came to understand the circulatory system.

Artists skilled in developing detailed pictures of the parts of the human body, or of diseases and their symptomatic manifestations, aided the development of medical books and the transmission of a more exact, descriptive science of medicine. The printing industry aided in the circulation of medical books, as did medical societies whose members sought to find forums for the discussion of medical matters.

...