JN+Medicine&Disease+Doctors

Doctors and Medical Knowledge in Ancient Rome __** How were Ancient Roman doctors trained and what did they know about medicine and disease? **__ The Ancient Roman doctors were much less respected and believed than they were in Ancient Greece. Some doctors in Ancient Rome were respected, but lots were considered to be fakes, phonies and liars. History tells us that Ancient Greek doctors were much more skilled than Roman doctors, and they also had a stronger "medical brain". Some doctors in Rome were actually Greek slaves that had been freed by their owners. The Romans trained to be doctors and anatomists by following and watching other doctors for years. Once the mentor of the "student" thought that he was ready, the doctor conducted a verbal test. He asked the student questions, and if they passed, they had to say the Hippocratic Oath to prove that they had the willingness and desire to help people with their medical issues. The newly "graduated" doctor now had to practice on people. This was done in the Colosseum, and they operated on wounded gladiators. This worked because it was hands on, the injuries were real and, most importantly, if the gladiator died due to a mistake made by the doctor, it usually wouldn't matter because they were slaves and probably would have died anyway if they had have fought on. They went by the quote "You learn from your mistakes". The Romans had to dissect animals to gain knowledge about diseases and the human anatomy, as the dissection of humans was banned. The Roman anatomist Galen recommended monkey dissections, as they had two arms and two legs like humans. The Roman doctors and anatomists were very wrong and sometimes confused about the human anatomy, diseases and even some medicines. They thought that blood was produced in the liver, they thought that blood was fuel for muscles, and they thought that the human bones and joints worked the same way that a dogs would. However, they did understand that blood flowed throughout the body, they understood how the nervous system worked, and they had a good overall understanding of the skeletal system.

Galen was Rome's greatest doctor, so whatever he and his team said, everyone pretty much believed. So when the Romans invaded Greece, Galen said that all of their medical and religious findings were rubbish, even though they were much more accurate than the Romans. The Romans stuck to their beliefs. They thought that illness and disease came from the stars and some even blamed tiny organisms that didn't even exist.

Roman doctors had to look sharp as well. They were expected to have their hair well groomed, their clothes never crinkled, their fingernails at a certain length and even shiny leather sandals. The citizens of Ancient Rome believed that the taller and better-looking a doctor was, the more reliable he would be. This posed a problem. as some of the best doctors were actually dirty and fat.

We have carried on a few of these concepts. Our doctors today have to be sanitary and clean by law, but not necessarily good looking and imposing. We still don't dissect humans and some colleges/universities still have their students say the Hippocratic Oath upon graduation of medical school. However, we are much smarter and quick-witted medically nowadays. We also have an almost complete knowledge of the human anatomy, and we know to be extra careful around any kind of patient. This is why we train on dummies in university, so we don't have to practice on living people and possibly endanger their lives.