Question

Outline five contributions of Muslims to the field of medicine.

Answer 1

1. Translations of Medical Texts. Arab scholars translated works from Greek, Syriac, Pahlavi and Sanskrit into Arabic; thus, preserving scientific knowledge while additionally supplementing it with their own discoveries.
2. Hospitals and Medical Education. While hospitals were not an Islamic invention, the Islamic Golden Age was responsible for their popularity and influencing these institutions greatly; in how they were run, how physicians were educated and changing the entire medical profession in general.
3. Surgery. Islamic surgeons were known for performing and documenting previously unseen surgical procedures. They also documented the intricate tools they invented and used.
4. Pharmacies/Drugs. The field of pharmacology and the existence of pharmacies, called saydalas, were established during the Islamic Golden Age. Islamic scientists applied the science of chemistry to medicine. 
5. The Canon of Medicine is an immense encyclopaedia of medicine. As the most celebrated book in medicine at the time, it presented a summary of all the medical knowledge. He used a systematic approach, formal perfection as well as its intrinsic value in his writing. It contains a complete section about kidney calculi. His book prescribes 65 herbal, 8 animal, and 4 mineral drugs for dissolving, expelling, and preventing kidney calculi.