Beginning of Change

Paré

• 1536 he joined the French army as a surgeon

• used hot oil on gunshot wounds

• ran out of oil so tried a new, Ancient Roman remedy of egg yolks, turpentine and oil of roses

• this new remedy worked much better

• wrote the Works on Surgery in 1575

• developed a new remedy that helped people

• wrote a book to share his obserations

Vesalius

• did his own dissections on the human body

• discovered that the human breastbone had 3 parts, not 7 like Galen had discovered in an ape

• illustrated the book The Fabric of the Human Body (1543) showing how different organs worked in the body

• proved Galen wrong and encouraged people to challenge beliefs more

• gave people a resource to learn more about how the human body worked

Thomas Sydenham

• discovered a new treatment for small pox with ‘cool therapy’ prescribing lots of fluids and very moderate bleeding

• wrote book Observation of Medicine (1676) which became the standard textbook for over 200 years

• helped people with small pox

• book meant he could spread his ideas and more people could learn about his ideas

William Harvey

• proved the heart pumped blood around the body by dissecting live cold-blooded animals

• wrote the book Motion of the Heart & Blood (1628)

• did dissections on the human body

• blood transfusions began to be attempted

• discovered how blood worked and developed anatomical knowledge

• book meant he could spread his ideas and more people could learn about his ideas

What stayed the same in treating disease in the 17th and 18th centuries?

• medical advice could still be sought from a barber surgeon, apothecaries, wise women or quacks

• bloodletting continued

• smoking a pipe with believed to be a good way of getting rid of the plague

What changed in treating disease in the 17th and 18th centuries?

• printing press helped people collect books about remedies

• books helped people avoid the high prices of doctors

• Culpepper was critical of bloodletting and purging

What stayed the same in quackery in the 17th and 18th centuries?

• people began selling ‘cure-all’ medicines

• people were taking advantages of people’s lack of medical knowledge

• ‘Daffy’s Elixir’ was invented in 1647 and was said to cure many things

What stayed the same in the Great Plague in the 17th and 18th centuries?

• 100,000 people / 25% of the population died in London

• many believed it was caused by bad air, sent as a punishment from God or movement of planets

What changed in the Great Plague in the 17th and 18th centuries?

• people began to realise there was a connection between dirt and disease

• plays or games with big crowds were banned

• Scottish border was closed

What stayed the same with hospitals in the 17th and 18th centuries?

• doctors learnt by lectures

What changed with hospitals in the 17th and 18th centuries?

• individual wards for different diseases were formed

• cases of medical students observing in their final year

• by 1800, London’s hospital handled 20,000 patients a year

What stayed the same with training and status in the 17th and 18th centuries?

• 1856 - 4% of doctors had a medical degree from an english uni

What changed with training and status in the 17th and 18th centuries?

• 1811 - to be a surgeon you had to attend at least one course in anatomy and one in surgery

• 1813 - at least 1 year experience in a hospital was required to work in a surgery

John Hunter

• believed in careful observation and using the scientific method

• operated on himself in 1767

• known as the ‘Father of Scientific Surgery’

• famous teacher of anatomy

Edward Jenner

• 1796 - created a vaccination for smallpox

• discovered that cowpox was a vaccine for smallpox

• In 1980 it was declared “Smallpox is dead!”

• created a brand new vaccine that ultimatly eradicated small pox

Renaissance

• around 1400-1600

• gunpowder was discovered causing new types of wounds

• humanism was developed

• global exploration led to new discoveries

• 4 humours fell out of favour

• miasma theory still remained

• surgeons had to obtain a licence and were allowed to perform dissections

Printing press

• reproduced writing and images

• made around 1440

• more copies available

• information could be shared more easily

• publishing wasn’t in control of the church