When does modern medicine start in Western civilization?

Answer 1

Additionally, modern medicine is a tricky term when it comes to understanding the foundational studies of medicine and the human condition. After all, anatomy is a foundational study of medicine and dates back to Herophilus and Erasistratus of Alexandria who are the first recorded individuals to have meaningfully dissected a human corpse with the interest in studying it. Likewise, you have the practice of physicians to consider as well which goes back quite a while. You also have to consider what kind of medicine we're discussing. As Will pointed out, surgery has been happening for quite some time. In fact, dental surgery goes back even further to at least the early Mesopotamian cultures! Likewise, medical treatments are also incalculably old with healers and classic physicians practicing a myriad of different treatments and prescribing herb-based poultices that weren't all just fluff! Many people like to discuss Galen or Hippocrates when answering these questions, however the problem remains that we have to define "modern." If you change your question to something more specific, I'll be more than happy to reply!

Answer 2

That is a debatable question. When it comes to the history of science and medicine, when something started can be difficult to determine. For example, surgery has been a practice in western medicine since the time of Hippocrates. However, surgery as we know it didn't really start until as late as the mid 20th century. That's less than 100 years ago! So which is correct? That depends on your definition of surgery. Does surgery require the use of anesthesia? If so, does that include basic pain killers or just modern anesthesia?

See, the problem here isn't really the answer, so much as the question. What do you define as "modern medicine"? History has a lot of debate to it!