Medicine Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Medicine
Statue of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine, holding the symbolic Rod of Asclepius with its coiled serpent
Specialist	Medical specialty

Medicine is a special science that helps people and animals stay healthy. It's all about understanding diseases (illnesses), stopping them from happening, and helping sick people get better.

People who work in medicine are usually called medical doctors or physicians. Doctors often work with nurses and many other health care experts.

Many doctors choose to focus on one specific area of medicine. For example, pediatrics is the medical field that focuses on the health of children.

Specialties in Medicine
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Specialties in Medicine

Medicine has many different areas, called specialties. Doctors train for years to become experts in one of these fields. Here are some of the main ones:

Anaesthesiology

These doctors are called anaesthesiologists. They give special medicines called anaesthesia (say: an-uh-STEE-zhuh) to make sure you don't feel pain during surgery or other medical procedures. They also make sure you are safe and wake up properly after the procedure.

Anaesthesiologists check your health before surgery. They help you breathe if you have trouble, sometimes by putting a tube into your lungs. They are often the first to help in emergencies.

Cardiology

A cardiologist is a doctor who specializes in the heart. They make sure your heart is strong and pumps blood well. Your heart sends blood all over your body, giving oxygen to your organs.

Cardiologists treat problems like heart attacks and heart failure. They also fix issues with your heart's rhythm. They can do special procedures to help your heart, like putting in stents to open blocked blood vessels.

Cardiovascular Surgery

These doctors are surgeons who operate on the heart and blood vessels. They are well-known for doing heart bypass surgeries. In a bypass surgery, they create a new path for blood to flow around a blocked part of the heart. This helps the heart get enough blood.

Emergency Medicine

Emergency room doctors work in the emergency department of a hospital. They treat people who have sudden, serious, or life-threatening problems. This includes things like heart attacks, strokes, or bad injuries.

They see patients of all ages and with many different health issues. Their main goal is to make sure the patient is stable and to check for any very serious conditions right away.

Family Medicine

A family doctor, also called a general practitioner, is trained to care for people of all ages. They know about many different health conditions that don't need surgery.

Family doctors often see patients from birth throughout their lives. They look at a person's overall health, including their family and social life. They can send you to a specialist if you need more specific care.

Gastroenterology

Gastroenterologists (say: gas-tro-en-ter-OL-uh-jists) are doctors who specialize in your digestive system. This includes your esophagus, stomach, and intestines. They also care for organs like the liver and pancreas.

These doctors can use a small camera to look inside your esophagus, stomach, or colon. A special type of gastroenterologist, called a hepatologist, focuses on the liver. They treat liver diseases and conditions like hepatitis.

Internal Medicine

Doctors in internal medicine treat many different conditions that affect your body's internal organs. They have broad knowledge about areas like breathing problems, kidney issues, and heart conditions.

General internists care for adults, but not children or pregnant women. They often manage patients who are staying in the hospital. Some internists choose to specialize further, like gastroenterologists who focus on the digestive system.

Gynecology & Obstetrics

These doctors are often called OBGYNs (say: oh-bee-jee-why-ens). They specialize in women's health. This includes caring for female reproductive organs and helping women during pregnancy and childbirth.

They treat issues like fertility problems and can perform surgeries. They also help deliver babies and manage any complications during birth, including Caesarian sections.

Ophthalmology

Ophthalmologists (say: off-thal-MOL-uh-jists) are doctors who specialize in the eyes. They diagnose and treat many eye conditions, like red eyes, eye pain, or changes in vision.

They treat diseases such as glaucoma and cataracts. Ophthalmologists are also trained to perform eye surgery.

Otolaryngology

These doctors are often called ENT doctors, which stands for Ear, Nose, and Throat. They have special training to treat problems in these areas. A common procedure they perform is removing tonsils.

Pulmonary Medicine

This medical field is also known as chest medicine or respiratory medicine. It focuses on the respiratory system, which helps you breathe. These doctors often care for patients who need help breathing, sometimes with machines.

Pulmonary specialists know a lot about lung diseases like pneumonia and asthma. They also manage serious chest infections and often work in intensive care units.

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Images for kids

The Doctor by Sir Luke Fildes (1891)
Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female physician in the United States graduated from SUNY Upstate (1847)
The Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala, fresco by Domenico di Bartolo, 1441–1442
Nurses in Kokopo, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea
Drawing by Marguerite Martyn (1918) of a visiting nurse in St. Louis, Missouri, with medicine and babies
Louis Pasteur, as portrayed in his laboratory, 1885 by Albert Edelfelt
Surgeons in an operating room
Gynecologist Michel Akotionga of Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
Medical students learning about stitches
Headquarters of the Organización Médica Colegial de España, which regulates the medical profession in Spain
A 12th-century Byzantine manuscript of the Hippocratic Oath
Statuette of ancient Egyptian physician Imhotep, the first physician from antiquity known by name
Mosaic on the floor of the Asclepieion of Kos, depicting Hippocrates, with Asklepius in the middle (2nd–3rd century)
A manuscript of Al-Risalah al-Dhahabiah by Ali al-Ridha, the eighth Imam of Shia Muslims. The text says: "Golden dissertation in medicine which is sent by Imam Ali ibn Musa al-Ridha, peace be upon him, to al-Ma'mun."
Siena's Santa Maria della Scala Hospital, one of Europe's oldest hospitals. During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church established universities to revive the study of sciences, drawing on the learning of Greek and Arab physicians in the study of medicine.
Paul-Louis Simond injecting a plague vaccine in Karachi, 1898
Alexander Fleming's discovery of penicillin in September 1928 marks the start of modern antibiotics.
Packaging of cardiac medicine at the Star pharmaceutical factory in Tampere, Finland in 1953.