History and German class

To be a good professional in the biomedical field, it is important to know the history of the profession. Medical thinking progressed from believing that mercury cured ills to the cutting edge medical practices of today. Although medical thinking of ancient times was usually very wrong and at most other times very questionable, some of the principles have guided medical progression and are still being taught to this day. For instance, most medical students still learn the Hippocratic oath, which was written by Hippocrates over 2,000 years ago. The Hippocratic oath outlines some of the ethical rules that doctors must follow if they are to practice medicine.

I find the medical practices of ancient times fascinating. Sometimes the attempts at cures made logical sense, but without using science most of the practices did nothing or made the patient sicker. The most interesting to me was Dreckapotheke, using foul ingredients like excrement to drive away the demons that caused disease. If the sickness was actually caused by demons like the physicians believed, then dreckapotheke might have been a viable cure, but since ills are caused by natural causes, this practice surely made the patients’ sicker and definitely smellier.

 We have also been taking some much-needed German language lessons. Luckily most people speak English, so I have been able to manage, but after taking some German I feel a little more capable. At least I can ask for directions to the nearest brewery and order a couple beers! I am impressed by the amount of English that most of the German people can speak. I have always been able to communicate with people and most have been very helpful and excited to converse in English with me. After hearing the German people speak English so well, I have been extra motivated to learn German so that maybe I can be bi-lingual someday.