Our world in medicine One of the most important factors in people's lives is the information, use and growing knowledge of medicine. Medicine is a science used by nations around the world. It is a science because it is based on knowledge acquired through careful study and experimentation. Medicine is also an art form because it depends on how well doctors and other healthcare professionals apply their knowledge when treating patients.1 Medicine is one of the most respected professions. The two important goals of medicine are to save lives and relieve suffering, which is why it is so respected. But the medical field is not open to anyone who wants to help. It takes many long years of college and medical school to even get a license to work in medicine.2 Although some doctors are more prominent than others, almost all are in the workforce. Call twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Since they have to constantly put effort into their work, they are paid very good wages. Human beings have suffered from diseases since they appeared on earth about two and a half million years ago. For much of this time, they knew little about how the human body works or what causes disease. But medicine has gone through many phases throughout history. In prehistoric times, people believed that angry gods or evil spirits caused diseases. To cure the sick, the gods had to be pacified or evil spirits driven out of the body. In time this task became the task of the first "doctors."3 The first known surgical treatment was an operation called trepanation. Trephination involved using a stone tool to drill a hole in a patient's skull. Scientists have found fossilized skulls dating back 10,000 years. Prehistoric humans probably also discovered that many plants can be used as medicines. For example, the use of willow bark for pain relief probably dates back thousands of years.4 Today, scientists know that willow bark contains important ingredients needed to make aspirin. In the Middle East, the Egyptians began to make important medical advances. Around 2500 BC, Egyptian doctors began to specialize. Some doctors only treated eye or dental diseases. Others specialized in internal diseases. Egyptian surgeons produced a textbook that explained how to treat dislocated or fractured bones, as well as tumors, ulcers, and wounds.5 Ancient Greek civilization reached its peak during 400 BC. During this period, the sick flocked to the temples in droves dedicated to the Greeks