The Main Man

To start off my blog about contributors to medicine I thought it was appropriate to begin with Hippocrates, “the Father of Medicine.”  Hippocrates was a Greek physician. He practiced medicine all around Greece. His first light of fame came from creating the medical school on the Greek island Cos. While working at the medical school Hippocrates created about seventy documents on the prevention diagnosis and treatment of diseases (Schneider, 5). This medical work was called Corpus Hippocraticum.  This is kind of like the nursing diagnosis reference manual textbook I have now. This manual has over a thousand pages of different nursing diagnosis not medical diagnosis. A nurse cannot give a patient a medical diagnosis only a physician can. It tells you the signs and symptoms that a patient can or will be exhibiting. The textbook present ways to cure or control the diagnosis the patient is given. The manual gives short term and long term goals for the diagnosis to achieve for the benefit of the patient. So, yes this work by Hippocrates has a rather large influence on the medical field all over the world. Hippocrates established the basis of a medical ethic code. The Hippocratic Oath is recited by new physicians and nurses at school graduations. Only it is a modernized version now because the original version mentions abortion and assisted in suicide. Here is the link to both the modern and original versions of the oath http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/body/hippocratic-oath-today.html . The teaching style of Hippocrates has been used and passed down through the years. He taught students that having detailed observations was a critical part of diagnosing a patient (Schneider, 5). This is actually very important in a physician and nurses job.  The first thing a nurse does when he or she opens the door to a patients room is make sure they are breathing and not bleeding. After which she begins the verbal communication with the patient. Hippocrates believed that the knowledge of science could be used as a resource to figure out what causes diseases. Hippocrates taught, “Proper diet, fresh air, a moderate climate, and attention to habits and living condition were necessary for healthy living (Schneider, 5).” From these teachings alone anyone can see that Hippocrates was ahead of his time. Proper diet is a continual issue of this day and age. It may have not been that much of a problem back then because Chipotle and McDonalds were not around the corner or on every corner of the roads in Greece. Although the moderate climate is a bit out of our physical abilities to control seeing how for the past two days we have woken up it has been two degrees outside. Hippocrates made a large impact in the lives of medical workers and patients. His influence and will forever be around and never forgotten.

Schneider, Dona, and David E. Lilienfeld. Public Health Volume 1, From The Age Of Hippocrates To The Progressive Era : The Development Of A Discipline. n.p.: Rutgers University Press, 2008. eBook Collection (EBSCOhost). Web. 23 Jan. 2013.