What was it like being a doctor in the 19th century?

I have always wondered what being a doctor in the 19th century was like. Being a doctor in the 19th century probably meant you didn't know much about the science behind medicine. Doctors treated patients without actually knowing the cause of the illness or infection. Most physicians graduated never having performed surgery, practicing at the bedside, or even seeing a laboratory.

The period before the Civil War was given the name: The Heroic Age Of Medicine because the treatments administered to patients were so extreme, meaning only the strong patients would be able to survive them. In fact, treatment was more life-threatening than the actual injury. In the 19th century, doctors often put leeches in wounds and would administer toxic substances, like mercury, hoping to treat their patients.

Just before the Civil War began, medicine was viewed more scientifically. Physicians began to search for reasons as to why their patient was sick, or how they became infected.

As the mortality rate was extremely high during the Civil War, doctors had to come up with a more efficient and effective way to treat the injured soldiers. Since the U.S had never experienced such harsh battles, they had no set large scale system. Having no system, the doctors would come on to the battlefield to treat the injured soldier. However, it came to attention that this was neither safe nor efficient. This led to the most important medical innovation: the triage system. In this system, patients were sorted by the type of injuries they received and instead of trying to treat a soldier on the battlefield, doctors would come get them off the battlegrounds and send them off to where they could get the proper care.

The Civil War significantly helped improve the medical field. Doctors were now making more observations and were taking notes on what treatments worked and which ones didn't. 95 percent of the surgery performed during the Civil War required anesthesia and out of those, 70 percent were amputations. It was believed by many that simply amputating a limb with an infection could reduce the mortality rate from 50 percent to 25 percent, as the chance of spreading the infection was reduced. The events of the Civil War led people to realize the need for properly equipped hospitals. All of these improvements in turn decreased the mortality rate to eight percent.

The medical field was not a lucrative profession. In addition, the schooling required was quite expensive, therefore, many people were not interested in taking part in this career.

During this time, the physicians were not considered to be sanitary. For example, they would wear an apron covered in multiple peoples blood everywhere they went, hoping to show off their profession.

It later was proven by scientists and doctors that illnesses and infections were caused by microscopic organisms. This was called the Germ theory. At first, many people refused to believe in the Germ Theory. However, as time went on, more scientific proof was gathered, and more surgeons started to accept the concept of germs causing illnesses. Following this news, doctors and surgeons began to wash their hands often, use tools that bacteria was unable to pile up in, and wear latex gloves. With more research being compiled, vaccines and antibiotics were developed in order to prevent or treat an illness. Eventually, training became more intensified and doctors were taught the science behind medicine.