Medical Field Civil War

Until the Flexner Report of 1910, requirements for admission to medical schools were rudimentary at best. Even the two prestigious schools in Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania and Jefferson Medical College, required only “one year of college work, in which, however, conditions have been very freely allowed.” and “a high school education or its equivalent,” respectively. Students at the University of Pennsylvania in the 1840s and 1850s were taught that science is based on experience and making a “judgment” as to the correct answer to a question or a problem. Civil War Surgeons’ medical education was severely limited by the concept that disease was caused by “bad air” (Dorwart, Bonnie Brice).

George Wunderlich once stated, “The American Civil War often gets credit for ending slavery and reshaping the federal government in this country. But the war between the states has another, often overlooked legacy: It may have started a new era in modern medicine” (“Civil War Medicine Quotes”). Contamination of medical equipment, poor sanitation methods, and lack of efficient medical procedures all led to the spread of disease, which resulted in death. However, modern medicine has significantly improved from the Civil War, due to its horrendous medical practices. The Civil War had countless impacts on the nation, but its most significant impacts were the advances in medical equipment, procedures and sanitation.

The battle between the North and the South not only help create a new start for our country, it also created new opportunities, in the medical field, to advance medicine technology. It is quite the accomplishment to make for our

     When Walt Whitman wrote that he believed the “real war” would never get into the books, this is the side he was talking about (Belferman 1996). Yet, it is important that we remember and recall the medical side of the conflict too, as horrible and terrifying as it was (Adams 1952). Long before doctors and people knew anything about bacteria and what caused disease was the time of Civil War medicine. Doctors during the Civil War (always referred to as “surgeons”) were incredibly unprepared. Most surgeons had as little as two years of medical school because very few pursued further education. At that time, Harvard Medical School did not even own a single stethoscope or

The Civil War had lasting historical impacts on America. Many medical, technological, military advances happened during or after the war and are still impacting The United States today. According to civilwar.org, out of the “...the heavy and constant demands of the sick and wounded sped up the technological progression of medicine, wrenching American medical practices into the light of modernity.” (Dixon). This quote shows just how much the Civil War forced these advances. Many things that are normal to us today, came around during the Civil War. Jonathan Letterman, the Medical Director of the Army of the Potomac, gave us the idea of a modern day ambulance system. In Letterman’s system “the ambulances of a division moved together...with two stretcher-bearers...” (civilwarhome.com). These ambulances would gather wounded men from the field, and then dress their wounds on their way to the field hospital. Because of the Civil War and because of how many deaths came out of the Civil War, we are still using Jonathan Letterman’s system.

The civil war was a long hard fought battle that left many people injured and deceased. Throughout this war America started seeing a major need for doctors and medical personnel. Medicine was on high demand and the importance of the american doctors and nurses was very high. Medical technology was limited during the 19th century, but the doctors and nurses worked hard to expand their knowledge and learn more about treatments.

The Civil War was a very eventful, horrific, terrifying, and brutal war in American History. It’s circumstances caused the lives of SO many courageous soldiers. With the help of the medical treatments or procedures that came about, several keys of life, whether daily life or life amidst war, improved. The innovation of medicine in the civil war is very important because of it’s effects on the war, modern medicine, and changes in treatment on the battlefield.

Even though the techniques Buck and his team used in the surgery’s were the same as described in 1000BC he was the only one in the Civil War that knew this type of procedure (Rhode). The techniques Buck used made gradual repairs over the course of several operations (Rowe). He pioneered the use of tiny sutures to minimize scarring (Rowe). Amputation was also a procedure used during the Civil War that differs from modern medicine. The old battlefield technique of trying to save limbs with doses of TLC quickly fell out of favor during the Civil War in favor of just chopping the limb off (Rowe). Although it was cumbersome and brutal, amputation saved more life’s than any other wartime medical procedure (Rowe). The reason why it saved more life’s is because battlefield surgeons took no more than 6 minutes to get an individual on the operating table, apply a cloth soaked in chloroform or ether, and then quickly be able make the deep incision (Rowe). Even though amputations were labor intensive and seemingly very harsh, there was an drastic increase in the need for them due to the fact that military weapons became more advanced during the course of the Civil War

The American Civil War was a horrible time of pain and suffering, especially to those who fought in the war. The Civil War caused hundreds and thousands of deaths, yet many of these were not the result of battle wounds. About two thirds of deaths from the Civil War were attributed to disease. Of course, even though the majority of soldiers that did not die during the war left without limbs, and left with trauma and disabilities, the results could have been much worse without the medical advancements we gained during the war. Technical advances in hygiene, surgery, and medical efficiency all became substantial outcomes that furthered medical practices and helped shape medicine in the modern age.

Throughout the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, doctors gave little attention to individual patients which resulted in the death of many soldiers. Dr. Gregg Baran, a physician and reenactor asserted, “At the time of a battle its important to realize there’d be one surgeon and one assistant for perhaps as many as 1000 soldiers,” (PBS Video). How can a doctor be effective if they have that many patients to take care of? Statistics show they weren’t. After being hit with a musket ball, there was a

Amputations were the most effective and renowned surgical technique during this time period. Amputations were wildly taboo procedures that caused much controversy at the time. By some they were considered “butchery” and many questioned the military surgeons’ qualifications to perform such aberrant procedures. One doctor wrote, “The surgery of these battle-fields has been pronounced butchery. Gross misrepresentations of the medical officers have been made and scattered broadcast over the country, causing deep and heart-rending anxiety to those who had friends or relatives in the army, who might at any moment require the services of a surgeon….” Despite their contentious depictions, amputations proved to be extremely effective. As opposed to losing three fourths of their patients afflicted by gunshot wounds to blood loss and infection they now lost only one fourth of them. Amputations also proved effective in improving the lives of the afflicted soldiers. Instead of having to live

The war is better known as the first mass killing of the 20th century—with an estimated 10 million military deaths alone—but for the injured, doctors learned enough to vastly improve a soldier’s chances of survival. They went from amputation as the only solution, to being able to transport soldiers to hospital, to disinfect their wounds and to operate on them to repair the damage wrought by artillery. Ambulances, antiseptic, and anesthesia, three elements of medicine taken entirely for granted today, emerged from the depths of suffering in the First World War.Though many suffered and fatalities occurred, the advances in medicine have helped to prevent such from happening again.

the bone. Blood rushes to the surface. We quickly swab the area and continue to work. Once

My answers were inconsistent, I based them more on where the scenario took place and what state of mind the people were in. I was more in-between on the canabalism, but there was not a choice for that. The victim was unconscious and going to die anyways. The other men were famished and in a scary place. The Warsaw doctor was also in a rather scary position especially with all of the soldiers. The second doctor had no excuse though she was in a modern setting. If she knew

I had been called in to help with a trauma laparotomy of a patient who had been a victim of a major bomb blast in one of the busy areas of my hometown, Lahore, Pakistan. Hundreds of people had been injured rendering the city as well as the nearby hospitals in a state of complete chaos. “It is going to be a long night Asad!” muttered the surgeon as he effortlessly slipped his hands into the surgical gloves. “But I am sure, tonight will help you decide whether you belong to this side of the red line.” I eyed the redline that marked the sterile zone. Over the next seven hours my mind and body were stretched to the limits. Pain crept into every single muscle and my body hurt from contouring like a pretzel as I held the various retractors, latching onto every single movement in my visual field. I found myself captivated by the strokes of the scalpel, clicks of the forceps and precision with which the attending maneuvered inside the patient’s abdomen; a sea of red and yellow to me. It was right in those moments when all the shackles of doubt broke