Medicine encompasses a range of practices which aim to maintain and restore human health through the prevention and treatment of illness. Contemporary medicine relies upon health science, biomedical research, and medical technology to diagnose and treat injury and disease, typically through medication, surgery, or some other form of therapy. It has traditionally been regarded as both an art and a science: the term is derived from the Latin ars medicina meaning the art of healing. Although medical technology and clinical knowledge are a major part of contemporary medicine, successful face-to-face relief of actual suffering requires the intangible application of human feeling and compassion, which is referred to in English as "bedside manner."

History
Prehistoric medicine incorporated plants (herbalism), animal parts and minerals. In many cases these materials were used ritually as magical substances by priests, shamans, or medicine men. Well-known spiritual systems include animism (the notion of inanimate objects having spirits), spiritualism (an appeal to gods or communion with ancestor spirits); shamanism (the vesting of an individual with mystic powers); and divination (magically obtaining the truth). The field of medical anthropology studies the various prehistoric medical systems and their interaction with society.
Early records on medicine have been discovered from early Ayurvedic medicine in Southeast Asia, Egyptian medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, the Americas, and Greece. Early Grecian doctors Hippocrates and Galen laid a foundation for later developments in a rational approach to medicine, and Hippocrates is known as the father of medicine. After the fall of Rome and the onset of the Dark Ages, Islamic scholars made major medical breakthroughs, supported by the translation of Hippocrates' and Galen's works into Arabic. Notable Islamic medical pioneers include polymath Avicenna, who is also called the father of medicine,Abulcasis, the father of surgery, Avenzoar, the father of experimental surgery, Ibn al-Nafis, the father of circulatory physiology, and Averroes. [Muhammad ibn Zakarīya RāziRhazes]], who is called the father of pediatrics, first disproved the Grecian theory of humorism, which nevertheless remained influential in Western medieval medicine. While major developments in medicine were occurring in the Islamic world during the medieval period, the Western world remained dependent upon the Greco-Roman theory of humorism, which led to questionable treatments such as bloodletting. Islamic medicine and medieval medicine collided during the crusades, with Islamic doctors receiving mixed impressions. As the medieval ages ended, important early figures in medicine emerged in Europe, including Gabriele Falloppio and William Harvey.

Delivery
Medical care delivery is classified into primary, secondary and tertiary care.
Primary care medical services are provided by physicians or other health professionals who have first contact with a patient seeking medical treatment or care. These occur in physician offices, clinics, nursing homes, schools, home visits and other places close to patients. About 90% of medical visits can be treated by the primary care provider. These include treatment of acute and chronic illnesses, preventive care and health education for all ages and both sexes.
Secondary care medical services are provided by medical specialists in their offices or clinics or at local community hospitals for a patient referred by a primary care provider who first diagnosed or treated the patient. Referrals are made for those patients who required the expertise or procedures performed by specialists. These include both ambulatory care and inpatient services, emergency rooms, intensive care medicine, surgery services, physical therapy, labor and delivery, endoscopy units, diagnostic laboratory and medical imaging services, hospice centers, etc. Some primary care providers may also take care of hospitalized patients and deliver babies in a secondary care setting.
Tertiary care medical services are provided by specialist hospitals or regional centers equipped with diagnostic and treatment facilities not generally available at local hospitals. These include trauma centers, burn treatment centers, advanced neonatology unit services, organ transplants, high-risk pregnancy, radiation oncology, etc.
Modern medical care also depends on information - still delivered in many health care settings on paper records, but increasingly nowadays by electronic means.

Education
Medical education is education connected to the practice of being a medical practitioner, either the initial training to become a physician or further training thereafter.
Medical education and training varies considerably across the world, however typically involves entry level education at a university medical school, followed by a period of supervised practice (internship and/or residency) and possibly postgraduate vocational training. Continuing medical education is a requirement of many regulatory authorities.
Various teaching methodologies have been utilized in medical education, which is an active area of educational research.