médecine

Medicine is a field of science and practice concerned with the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and palliation of illness and injury in humans. It combines biomedical knowledge, clinical skill, and ethical care to promote health, restore function, and relieve suffering.

The history of medicine spans ancient civilizations to modern science. Early systems in Egypt, Greece, and China established clinical observation and diagnosis. The scientific revolution advanced anatomy, physiology, pathology, and germ theory, enabling anesthesia, antisepsis, vaccines, imaging technologies, and targeted therapies.

Modern medicine integrates clinical practice with biomedical research and public health. Clinical medicine focuses on patient care; specialties include internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics, and psychiatry. Basic sciences—anatomy, physiology, biochemistry—support diagnostics and therapeutics, while preventive medicine and epidemiology address population health.

Education and practice require formal training, licensing, and ongoing professional development. Medical ethics emphasize patient autonomy, confidentiality, informed consent, beneficence, and justice. Evidence-based medicine combines research evidence with clinical judgment and patient values to guide decisions.

Current trends include personalized or precision medicine, genomics, digital health, telemedicine, and artificial intelligence in diagnostics. Emerging therapies, minimally invasive techniques, and data-driven approaches transform care, while global health challenges—access, disparities, antimicrobial resistance, and aging populations—continue to shape the field.

In French, the term médecine corresponds to the field of medicine described in this article.