Medical Education In The Civil War Essay

1382 Words6 Pages
Throughout the Civil War, medical knowledge was extremely basic. Many doctors didn’t understand infection, and those who did, did little or nothing to prevent it. Approximately two thirds of the soldiers died from infections as a result of unsound hygiene and sanitary conditions. Disease was extremely prominent in Civil War camps because of the disgusting conditions that the soldiers had to live in. Even though during the civil war, many medical advancements were being made, they were not being made quick enough to save approximately 400,000 soldiers who died from disease and infection. The main reason why many soldiers didn’t know of disease and infections was because the doctors assigned to their camps didn’t know of them. Before the Civil war, doctors were not trained for the conditions they would later face during the war. Many doctors served as apprentices rather than going to medical school and getting a formal education.…show more content…
Medical schools became more prestigious throughout all of the United States. When the war started, staffs were established in a hurry so they could get out into the field and serve the soldiers in camp. Anyone could volunteer to be a nurse in the first stages of war, even if the volunteers had no past medical education. But towards the middle of the war, this changed, hospital staffs became more permanent and they were required to have some form of medical education in order to serve and also, the staffs began to use large, well ventilated tents, and operated in cleaner hospitals, that were designated for the wounded only. Also, like the ones in Europe, medical school in the United states began to offer four year programs that gave their surgeons, and doctors training, and laboratory research, which then led to the advancements in medical technology later in the
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