Medicine – The Sub-Specialties of Medical Science
Medicine is the art and science of treating a human patient, dealing with the cause, treating the symptom, prevention, cure, and promotion of their total health. Since medicine is a branch of health care, the key function of medicine is to provide services that are necessary for the survival of patients. They are involved in preventing, detecting, monitoring, treating, and improving the general health of patients. When one says that medicine is a science, this also includes the application of knowledge in improving and maintaining a human’s standard of living. This field is very broad and it covers all the branches of medicine such as general or hospital medicine, pharmacy or clinic medicine, surgery or hospital medicine, pediatric or geriatric medicine, etc.
As said earlier, medicine deals with diseases or symptoms. The different types of diseases include acute or chronic, either chronic or acute, progressive or chronic, or secondary progressive, etc. For treating the acute diseases, one may use pharmacological or surgical methods to treating the chronic ones may use preventive methods and the others may use curative methods. Moreover, while dealing with any disease, one may use complementary or alternative medicine or therapies. This means that medicines which are used together with traditional medicine or therapies are used in addition to conventional medicine.
The major part of medicine is its treatment or cure. Therefore, medicine is also known as the medical science or the medical arts. It is a discipline of study aiming at producing the maximum benefit from the action of physical and chemical agents by controlling or removing the cause of disease. Hence, medicine treats a disease by providing the appropriate remedy. By prescribing the appropriate drugs, the physician helps the patient recover completely from the disease and recuperates to do the same all over again.
Modern medicine differs from medicine only in terms of its application. In modern medicine, the goals are to treat a disease through surgically removing the ailment. However, in traditional medicine, the goals are to treat a disease holistically. Traditional medicine places more emphasis on diet, nutrition and lifestyle control than does modern medicine. Therefore, traditional medicine provides preventive measures such as proper diet, clean habits, cessation of harmful habits, etc. Modern medicine, on the other hand, tends to provide only symptomatic treatment.
Modern medicine has developed various sub-specialties in order to specialize in different ailments and diseases. The different sub-specialties include nephrology, cardiology, gastroenterology, gynecology, diagnosticians, neurologists, and psychiatrists. Each sub-specialty of medicine has a slightly different approach to treating ailments. In addition, each sub-specialty also focuses on treating diseases and ailments through the application of techniques and methodologies that are based on the unique characteristics of the specific ailment. Thus, medicine has a number of different sub-specialties.
Today, many people choose to undergo medical treatments based on their diagnoses rather than on the path chosen by their physicians. In addition, traditional medicine has been accused of neglecting the practice of holistic or natural healing. Holistic and natural methods in treating diseases have been proven to be effective and have no adverse side effects. Many people are turning to these alternative methods when traditional medicines fail to cure them of their ailments.