Pharmacy and Drugs Medicine and Doctoring
Nursing Dentistry
Veterinary Medicine
College of Public Health and Health Professions
First, I visited the college of Pharmacy. Which didn't become a part of the health science center until 1962; it was primarily part of the main campus. Pharmacy is known as the preparation and dispensing of drugs. I learned that medicines in the past, usually medicinal herbs, were chosen because of the shape of leaves, roots, twigs and general plant shape (at one time it was thought that leaves and plants shaped like a particular organ would treat illnesses in that organ), smell, and location- it was often believed that plants from a particular location would cure diseases originating in that location. This means of choosing medicines really derived from folk lore and folk beliefs and, generally, the choice of drugs-whether to use plants, which plants to use, or whether to incorporate other materials all depended on the cultural beliefs, on technology and on scientific thought and method.
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For instance, as Europeans began to learn more about chemistry, and chemical analysis, they also began to use metallic elements as medicine- iron, mercury, and arsenic, and minerals such as sulfur in the Middle Ages. In this period, however, the exact effect of the element was not always known and at times patients might become sicker from the treatment than the disease. As time changed and technology developed medicine came to be determined by the effect it has on the cells and its chemical properties. As the science of chemistry developed further they learned to synthesize medicines.
In Medieval Islamic societies and in Medieval Europe, the person that would prescribe the medicine was an Apothecary (basically today's pharmacist) or a physician. These practitioners were part of what is called "regular" medicine, connected to universities and formal training, although schools of pharmacy did not become common until the 19th century. Until this period, not only could apothecaries as well as physicians prescribe medicines but in fact all drugs were readily purchased by anyone. Now, of course, only the physician can prescribe certain drugs and drugs have to be approved for general usage before they are even available to prescribe. As medicine became more regulated in the 20th century, drugs also were not made at home or even combined by pharmacists, whose dispensing jobs became easier while they started needing more and more information on a larger number of drugs.
Second was the college of medicine which was one of the first colleges in the Health Science Center to welcome first students in1956.
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The history of regular medicine as practiced in Europe and the United States begins with Ancient Greece, although the European Dark Ages was a period when Europe was cut off from this body of learning. With the reintroduction of Greek learning in the 11th century, European medicine began to take a form it would hold, more or less, through the 19th century. Physicians were generally educated in Universities, and pertaining to this area was that doctors were generally men. In America, especially in the 18th and 19th centuries, physicians often did not have formal schooling, or the requirements for practice were minimal- for instance, they may have had up to six months of schooling to learn the trade. During these centuries, physicians often were seen as people that brought pain and didn't know what they were doing.
Greek learning and medical thought shaped the way that doctors diagnosed and treated patients until the 19th century, and the Hippocratic separation of natural from supernatural medicine eventually became the cornerstone of modern medicine. The Greek medical beliefs that were used were a body of thought known as humoral medicine. The Greeks believed that the health of an individual was determined by the balance of 4 humors in the body; blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm.
The humors were governed by properties inherent in the four elements- earth, air, fire and water, and also were governed by or more prominent in different seasons. Every season had a certain treatment and a certain illness. Also, there was the belief that each zodiac sign stood for a region of the body and depending on the time of the year a certain treatment would be given to that area of the body. Treatments were meant to balance the humors, so bleeding would decrease the amount of blood, while blistering, prescription of mercury, and other depletive treatments helped balance other humors. In some cases, an imbalance- too much of a humor- could be countered by building up another humor. Practices derived from humoral medicine were generally practiced until the rise of scientific medicine in the late 19th century, although doctors did not have drugs that treated specific diseases until the 20th century.
In America, medical practice began to be more regulated in the 20th century, a period when medical specialties multiplied quickly. As scientific medicine became more sophisticated and effective, medical education became longer and more expensive, and the number of women entering the profession did not begin to increase rapidly until after the 1960s.
Thirdly, I visited the college of Nursing, which was the other college to open its doors in 1956.
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Nurses are people trained for the care of the sick or injured, and nursing has always been a separate field than medicine. However, it did not become a profession until the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Nurses' duties weren't always just caring for the patient, but also to keep care area around the sickbed clean and thus included sweeping, mopping, and dusting daily. Before 1850 nurses were anyone from experienced women who weren't married and didn't have children, members of religious orders and sometimes even prisoners. Starting In the 1800s, they were trained in schools of nursing in colleges or hospitals.
There are three people in the history of nursing who should always be noticed. First Is Florence Nightingale who was born May 12, 1980 and died August 13, 1910.
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She was upset with the lack of cleanliness of hospitals during the Crimean War and decided to do something about it. However, she was not taken seriously until she went to The Times newspaper. Of course this action brought much publicity and she was eventually put in charge of organizing barracks to provide quality sanitation. Through her focus on sanitation, she was able to significantly lower patients' death rates. She is known as the founder of modern nursing and the first great nurse of the world.
Another well-known figure in the history of nursing is Clara Barton, who was born December 25, 1821
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and died April 12, 1912. While volunteering in the France-Prussian War (1870-1871) she learned about the European Red Cross (later created a U.S. chapter)- and the Treaty of Geneva, which the U.S. turned down. When she came back to the states she worked hard to have these things noticed. In 1881 American Red Cross was formed and in 1882 the U.S. signed the Geneva agreement all due to this woman. She is known as the first president of Red Cross. A famous quote from her is "You must never so much as think whether you like it or not, whether it is bearable or not; you must never think of anything except the need, and how to meet it."
Lastly, is Dorothea Dix who was born April 4, 1802 and died July 18, 1887. She is known for the way she helped people in insane asylums all over America. She fought for clean conditions in insane houses
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and played a direct affect in the founding of 32 mental hospitals across North America. In addition, Dorothea was made the Union Superintendent of Nurses during the Civil War and set about to make war nursing in the United States an effective and respected position. This was a period when nursing was done by untrained people, and when so few people were willing to nurse that sometimes It was necessary to get women prisoners from local jails to nurse. She established requirements- including age, plain appearance- and an early form of uniform. In the process, she made the soldiers respect the nurses and had requirements for the nurses to uphold. Due to the efforts of these three women and others nursing has become the profession we know it as today. Much nursing reform has to do with changes due to war, and also to the growth of hospitals. It was the filthy conditions of hospitals, especially in wartime, and other Institutions where Incarcerated patients received poor care that made Florence Nightingale, Clara Barton, and Dorothea Dix do something about it, and make a change. On Nightingale's behalf these efforts led to books that gave information on how hospitals should be kept and duties of nurses, as well as training manuals and hospital regulations. This new view of the Importance of cleanliness helped to improve patient care, through nursing and hospitals in general. In addition, these women helped to establish professional schools of nursing and to develop specialized training. With the professionalization of the practice came Increased respect and political power.
Next, I was introduced to the college of Dentistry. This college was the first dental school In Florida and enrolled first class in 1972. However, didn't move into completed building until 1975.
Dentistry is the art of caring for the teeth. In the past, tooth health wasn't very good, for a number of reasons. In certain regions, such as Egypt, people wore down their teeth with the bread they ate because the stones they used to grind grain were soft and sand often got into the flour. Also, many people in the past did not have the means to keep their teeth clean or gums healthy, and decay was a constant problem.
People who specialized in teeth care, or who at least offered teeth care, seem to have existed for some time, although their ability to care for teeth was often limited. Dentists were known in Medieval Europe as Barber-surgeons, practitioners who also drew blood and performed minor surgery. Their training was acquired through apprenticeships rather than in the classroom, and could be superficial.
The rudimentary state of dental training meant teeth received poor care In Europe- although the lack of sophisticated care was only part of the reason for tooth problems. Often In the past, these barber-surgeons and then later dentists were seen as money hungry and pain givers. Therefore, the patients never went to see the dentist until their teeth were in an unfixable condition. By that time there was nothing else to do but pull the tooth. In fact, most early dentistry involved the pulling of teeth, and was viewed with fear and suspicion until dentistry began to develop anesthesia to make dental work less painful. The first demonstrations of dental anesthesia were made in the first half of the 19th century. After the Introduction of anesthesia and Increase In professional training, dentists became more respected and dental training became more complicated. The first dental textbooks were introduced in the Middle Ages although the first College of Dentistry was not opened until the 1840s.
Still, people have long attempted to treat tooth decay and to help those who lost teeth due to decay. False teeth made out of ivory and bone has been used since 700 B.C. and the use of materials to fill teeth is probably almost as old although European mentions of filling materials date from the 1400s. Attempts to prevent tooth decay through dental hygiene began at least as early as 1498, when the Chinese invented the modern toothbrush.
Now, with the onset of modern dental care methods, technological Innovations, scientific approaches to dental research, and specialization dentistry has become a scientific pursuit that can focus as much or more on saving teeth and guaranteeing oral health. Dentists can specialize in areas such as
endodontics, orthodontics, periodontology, oral surgery, prosthodontics and others. As you can see dentistry itself has been known and used for many centuries.
Then I visited the College of Health Professions. This college was originally named UF's college of Health Related Services and it accepted its first students in 1959. It focused early on such allied health professions as audiology, occupational therapy, physical therapy and clinical psychology. These allied health professions are part of a tremendous expansion in health care specializations that took place primarily in the last one hundred years.
The number of Health Professions has more than tripled since the Middle Ages. Many new specializations of the profession came about in the 20th century. Some things that led to the development of new professions were the world wars and technological advances. They also can be professions that expand the definition of health and health care. Such things as occupational therapy and physical therapy are included in this field, because they don't fit in the usual categories of nursing, medicine and dentistry. Occupational therapy is the skilled treatment that helps individuals achieve independence in all facets of their lives. Physical therapists work on improving joint motion, muscle strength and endurance, cardiac and pulmonary function, development, functional ability, sensation and perception, integrity of the skin, muscle tone reflexes, and performance of functional activities. For example, physical therapy is used when someone has a knee replacement.
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Other health professions include Public Health and Audiology. Public Health deals with the science and practice of protecting and improving the health of the community. An example would be commercials and Intervention classes on AIDS, as well as sanitation efforts. Audiology deals with the science of hearing. For example, studying why some people have problems hearing and what Instruments could be used so they can hear. The College of Health Professions is unique, because unlike other fields it varies in subjects, and it was one of the first colleges of this type that opened In the United States.
UF's veterinary college enrolled its charter class in 1976, focusing on the health of animal bodies. Veterinary medicine is a branch of modern medicine. whose history has been closely related to the development of human medicine, as well as to increasing interest in improving the breeding stock and health of domestic animals. Formalized training in veterinary medicine tracked the development of medical education in continental Europe. During the 1700s they established schools of veterinary medicine for breeding the animals, especially finding ways to Improve breeding stock as well as productivity and keeping them healthy. Because domestic animals were vital for human survival, however, there was a long tradition of animal care in different cultures.
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The first recorded form of veterinary medicine, acupuncture, was used in China In 3000 BC. However, rudimentary medical skills are thought to have existed as early as 9000 BC among Middle Eastern shepherding cultures. In Babylonia (1850-500BCE) In the Code of Hammurabi there was a section on care and treatment for animals and the costs of treatment.
There are three reasons why vet. med. became a science. One, changes In the human animal relationship, which mostly took place In the late 19th century as owners became close to the animals and had gained feelings for them and, In particular, became Interested In efforts to prevent cruelty to. Two, Economy. In order to get the best product you would need the best breed of animal for the job and when you're able to breed all the good animals together you have a good selling product. Third, sentiment. The animals were appearing more and more human to the owners and they would feel for them when they got sick or was hurt. Therefore, they were willing to call on a doctor to see what was wrong and to pay a doctor to care for the animals.
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