Unknown things about white blouse, stethoscope and oath Hippocrates

Familiar things associated with doctors have profound meanings for many we do not yet know.

When it comes to medicine, everyone thinks of the doctor in a white blouse and a stethoscope worn on his neck. In order to enter the profession, physicians must remember clearly the oath of Hippocrates, which is considered the standard of medical ethics. How are the familiar things associated with this doctor formed?

and ethical standards in medicine

The traditional notion that Hippocrates, who is considered to be the father of Western Medicine, is the author of the Hippocrates oath. Born around 460-370 BC on the island of Cos, Greece, Hippocrates learned his medical profession from his father Heracleides and became a Greek physician. In this era, medicine was still associated with religion and illnesses were cured by mystical supernatural phenomena. However, Hippocrates rejected these notions. He was the first person to consider medicine as a science and said that every disease has its own natural causes.

Therefore, he spends his time studying physiology, anatomy, investigating evidence-based, direct, and unknown causes of disease. From there, Hippocrates concluded that the disease was caused by an imbalance in the rate of body fluids. When this happens, the physician can intervene to help the body return to equilibrium.

Hippocrates always advises physicians to record their findings and treatments to pass on to future generations. One of his famous medical principles is: 'First, there is no harm' and 'Medicine is long and life is short'.

However, some researchers claim that the Hippocrates oath was made by the followers of Pythagoras. Even so, in the medical community, this oath was automatically accepted as Hippocrates and was still solemnly admonished by doctors before starting to practice medicine.

The vow of this vow is circa fourth century BC, written in the Greek Ionian language of ancient Greece. One thing for sure is that it has been heavily repaired to fit with the historical circumstances of Greece through different stages.

The physician Hippocrates is considered to be the author of the famous Hippocrates Oath in medicine. (Photo: Verywell)

Why is the doctor's blouse white?

Few people know that this costume has a tough history and is still controversial. White knee-length robes attached to the image of a doctor (also known as white blouse) are derived from the clothes of laboratory scientists, officially used at the beginning of the century. XX. Before that time, medicine was generally considered to be the field of witches, wizards and healers, who had no formal training and normal clothes even in the operating room.

At that time, scientists also proved that many drugs and cures used by doctors were not effective. That makes people increasingly lose faith in people working in medicine.

The white blouse brings a sense of trust to the patients.(Photo: Medium).

To regain the trust of patients, doctors also choose white robes as uniforms as implicitly proves that they are like scientists and make patients more assured. This outfit also helps ensure aseptic environment and soothes the psychology of patients. In particular, the traditional color of the lab coat is beige, but doctors have chosen white to symbolize life and purity.

In the early days, black robes were used instead of white in biological laboratories and microbiology to make it easier to see dirt. During this period, the treatment method was still preliminary, so the mortality rate due to diseases and epidemics was very high. Therefore, doctors choose black to express respect for the dead.

With the development of science and technology, the methods in medicine have improved markedly, the mortality rate has decreased, and human health has been improved. At that time, black made people think of sadness. So in 1915, the doctors all changed to wearing white blouses and long pants.

However, the use of this costume also encountered many mixed opinions of the people themselves in the profession. The group agreed that the white blouse helps doctors to be more responsible for the profession and make patients feel comfortable. Meanwhile, the opposition has claimed it is a symbol of alienating the dignity of the medical profession.

However, in many countries, the ceremony to wear a white coat (White coat ceremony) is still respected by many medical students and doctors. That means marking their start with the profession.

The birth from the delicate situation of the pcs

Before the stethoscope appeared, doctors often had to put ears and head into the patient's chest to hear a heartbeat. This is very difficult, especially for obese people. In 1816, by chance, French doctor Rene Laennec invented the first rudimentary stethoscope in medical history when he was examining a young girl with heart disease.

To avoid embarrassment when he had to apply the ear directly to the patient's chest, he rolled the cover into a long tube, one end placed on the patient's chest, and the other on his ear. Strangely, the sound of the heart beating was much clearer. Laennec's idea was inspired by a children's game, pressing his ear to either end of a wooden tube to transmit sound.

The first wooden stethoscope was 45cm long and 4cm wide with two heads attached to a small funnel to hear a patient's heartbeat.(Photo: Hektoeninternational).

Laennec then turned to experimenting using wooden tubes instead of the original paper tubes. The complete stethoscope is a vertical shape of a 45cm wide, 4cm wide wooden tube, with two small funnels attached to the patient to hear the patient's heartbeat. Dr Laennec took three years to perfect the design and track changes in pneumonia patients, comparing what he heard with the autopsy results. In 1819, this doctor invented the first version of a stethoscope called De L'auscultation Mediate .

Since this invention, the stethoscope has undergone many improvements and is becoming more and more popular. In 1828, French physicist Pierre Adolphe Piorry changed the shape of the original stethoscope using a piece of ivory as a percussion pad.

The next important change was the idea of ​​binaural stethoscope. This was an initiative invented by the Irish physician Arthur Leared, in 1851, but left many skeptical about the imbalance of hearing due to the use of both ears. It was not until 1853 that Dr. George Phillip Camman improved and proved its use, binaural stethoscope was widely used.

Over the years, in 1961, the most popular stethoscope version was created by Dr. David Littmann. To listen to low-frequency sounds, users just need to gently touch the earpiece on the listening area, with high-frequency sound, users just need to lightly press the headset.

Stethoscopes are the god-damn thing of doctors in any situation.(Photo: Medisave).

A stethoscope is a simple combination of one of the most fundamental laws of physics, sound transmission and amplification. However, it was one of the great influences and became a symbol of modern medicine. With the original purpose of creating a distance between the doctor and the patient, it has now become the ideal tool to connect the two subjects during treatment.