Medicine.

Medicine is the practice of maintaining or restoring human health through the study and use of medicine and the way the human body works. It is an career with historic routes and is a popular and very competitive career choice these days.

The way that medicine is taught varies around the world but the basic structure is a medical education at a university medical school after which there is a period of clinical practice (sometimes called a residency) where the doctor will be supervised by another experienced and senior doctor. After this there will be continued professional development throughout the career of a doctor which is required part of his or her profession and is mandatory.

In England the usual length for the course is 5 years although this can be reduced to 4 years if the student already holds a related degree (I.e. in a science subject). Equally, it can be extended to 6 years to include a pre-med year if the student does not have the necessary scientific background. Two foundations years follow this period and they are commonly referred to as F1 and F2. It is possible to register with the General Medical Council (which all doctors must do) after the F1 period.

Medical ethics is something that goes hand in hand with the practise of the doctor. Some of the values that apply are:-

Beneficence - the fact that the doctor should always response in the best interests of the patient.
Non-maleficence - that the doctor should not harm the patient (bit essential!)
Autonomy - the fact that the patient can always refuse of choose their treatment as part of their basic rights.
Justice - where the resources are few, the doctor has to make a decision on who gets what based on fairness and equality.
Dignity - the patient (and the person giving the treatment) always have the right to their dignity.
To be truthful and honest should always be at the heart of the doctors work and there is a very high awareness of informed consent in modern times which ties in with this.