Modern medicine has made great strides in recent years. It is scientific and based on continual research and experiment. Surgery, in particular, has made an amazing advance. Thousands of doctors are being trained every year in India, and hundreds of hospitals set up. People living in cities rely mainly on modern medicine. In the past whenever there was an outbreak of plague or cholera people died by the hundreds. Modern medicine has succeeded in preventing the outbreak of epidemics, or in reducing the heavy toll taken by them.
Again, modern medicine cures a disease quickly, while the traditional system usually demands a longer treatment. Another difference between the two systems of medicine is that while the modern doctors are trained and qualified, there are many quacks among the practitioners of the traditional system. It must be admitted that some simple traditional methods of treating ailments are very effective. Powdered cow dung, for example, has medicinal value, and can cure nose – bleeding. Traditional methods have proved more effective in the treatment of certain ailments like chronic cough and jaundice.
In thousands of remote villages in India where there are no hospitals and qualified doctors, traditional methods alone can serve the sick and the diseased. Besides, they are cheap and can be easily afforded by the poor. Edward Jenner, 47 – Discovered vaccinia and the concept of vaccination. Alexander Fleming, 39 – Discovered penicillin and the concept of antibiotics. Jonas Salk, 41 – introduced the polio vaccine Various scientists and doctors – Smallpox, arguably the most deadly disease in human history eradicated May 8, 1980.
C Everett Koop, 71 – As Surgeon General under Ronald Reagan, disregards the politicization of science around the then burgeoning AIDS epidemic as well as the homophobic and anti-sex tendencies of his party and delivers a report on the prevention of HIV transmission stressing sex education, barrier contraception, and voluntary and private testing Luc Montagnier, 51 and Robert Gallo, 47 – Officially co-discoverers of the HIV virus, though controversy exists over Gallo’s claim to the discovery.
Hippocrates – dubbed the father of medicine. Age at the time of his accomplishments is not known, but there is no prevailing theory of his being a teenager when they were made. William Harvey – pioneered the understanding of the circulatory system. Accomplished well after his teenage years. Insulin Discovered by Paul Langerhans[wp] at the age of 21.
Extraction/isolation by Frederick Banting[wp] (age 29) and Charles Herbert Best[wp] (age 21) Summary – Given the amount of research, clinical understanding, and practical experience necessary to be a medical researcher or practicing physician, the overwhelming majority of achievements in the field of medicine are not the result of Doogie Howser, MD.