what did a medieval doctor know?

what did a medieval doctor know?

1. MEDIEVAL DOCTOR TRAINING:

   • 7 years of study at a university- Oxford or Cambridge. Doctors learnt mainly by listening to lectures and debating about what they had read about in books. Doctors learned the treatments of Hippocrates and Galen, together with medical knowledge from the Muslim and Indian worlds. Doctors dealt with each part of the body starting from the head downwards, and brought together medical theory, charms and Christian prayers.

2. DIAGNOSIS:

   • medieval doctors followed the ancient Greek method of 'clinical observation' to produce a diagnosis of the disease. Doctors tended to concentrate on 2 indicators; the colour, smell, and taste of urine; and the pulse. from this the doctor would prescribe natural medicines made from plants. spices and oils.

3. TREATMENT:

   • common treatment- bloodletting, which was when blood was removed by opening a vein or using leeches to suck it out. the cure often didn't work because blood had to be removed from the right spot on the body.
     • other treatments involved in eating something that made you vomit or go to the toilet.
       • remedies often included combining natural with supernatural approaches, such as prayers, charms and astrology.

4. FOUR HUMOURS:

   • medieval doctors based their natural cures on the Ancient Greek theory of illness, which involved the inequal balance of 4 'humours' within the body. they believed that a person became ill when the humours were out of balance, and the doctor's job was to restore this balance. if there was not enough they might be advised to drink more RED WINE.
     • SUMMER, HOT: yellow bile. Cure: made to vomit ro change their diet (e.g. eat cheese).
       • AUTUMN, DRY: black bile. Cure: given laxatives or eating more vegetables.
         • WINTER, COLD: phlegm. Cure: breathe in steam, or eating fleshy vegetables like cucumber.
           • SPRING, MOIST: blood. Cure: bloodletting, or eating and drinking red wine or meat.

5. OPTIONS:

   • there were few university trained doctors in medieval england, adn they were expensive. less respected but more common were the barber-surgeons in towns. there would also be wise men and wise woman who would sell natural herbal remedies and they were available for people who lived in the villages. christianity was very central to medieval peoples's lives, so sick people might also turn to the local monastry or the parish priest for medical help. people at the time believed that God could send illnes as a punishment for wickedness and crimes (sins).