Medical is the study of health and disease and the prevention and treatment of them. Medical science encompasses a wide range of disciplines such as anatomy, pathology, physiology and radiology, each with its own specialty.
A physician’s duty is to provide service to humanity with respect for human dignity and to improve knowledge, skills and availability of medical care. Physicians should make their expertise available to the community and participate in professional societies.
Patients may seek medical advice and treatment for conditions ranging from the common cold to cancer. Medical professionals are trained to assess a patient’s symptoms and perform diagnostic tests, prescribe medications and recommend other treatment options. Physicians must ensure that their patients understand the risks involved with any proposed treatments and offer reasonable alternatives. This is known as the principle of Beneficence, which is a core value of the medical profession.
In modern times, most developed industrialized countries have universal healthcare systems that provide health services to all residents regardless of their ability to pay. These programs are supported by taxes or insurance premiums and provide access to medical professionals in hospitals, clinics and private practices. A growing number of developing nations are adopting similar policies to expand health care access and coverage.
Medical schools teach the sciences of chemistry, biology and physics as well as a variety of clinical subjects. Students learn to use laboratory equipment to perform experiments and tests on samples of body fluids, tissues and organs. Many medical fields also require a strong foundation in mathematics. Medical records are often organized using electronic medical records systems, which are designed to store and transmit patient data more quickly and efficiently than traditional paper files.
A doctor must follow the ethical principles outlined by the American Medical Association and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. These include the responsibility to treat all people with respect, to uphold the honor and dignity of the medical profession, to maintain professional competence and to uphold the Code of Ethics for Physicians. In addition, doctors must abide by the principles of the Hippocratic Oath and the Code of Conduct for the Medical Profession.
The vocabulary of medical terms can seem overwhelming to someone who is not a healthcare professional. Fortunately, most medical words are based on language rules and can be broken down into word parts to facilitate understanding. The most common medical root words are derived from Latin or Greek and have a droppable combining vowel, such as -o. Generally, these roots go together according to the language of origin: Greek prefixes go with Greek suffixes and Latin prefixes with Latin suffixes.
Adding an “s” or “es” is the straightforward way to create plural forms of words in English and most modern Romance languages, but creating plural forms of medical terms can be more difficult. To create the plural form of a medical term, the suffix is dropped and the letters are multiplied. For example, abrasion becomes abrasion and chest pain is called angina.