John Snow Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

John Snow - Assignment Example John Snow, also known as the father of epidemiology, is a renowned British physician who played a major role in discovering the real cause of cholera. He propounded that cholera was a water-borne disease which is caused by the oral ingestion of the disease-causing germs. Following this theory, he also succeeded in tracing the source of the spread of cholera during an outbreak of the epidemic in Soho. (Vinten-Johansen et. al., 2004). Snow was born and brought up in York region of England. After completing his preliminary education till the age of 14, he began working as an apprentice to a surgeon. During his tenure as a surgical apprentice, Snow gathered valuable knowledge about the fundamental concepts of medical science and learnt multiple skills that are essential for a physician. This period in his life was extremely influential in the growth and development of Snow in the domain of medicine and surgery. He understood the mechanism of spread of diseases, learnt ways to restrict the spread of diseases, observed many surgeries taking place and came to know the ways to ensure the welfare of patients. This period not only marked a learning phase in the life of Snow but also saw his emergence as a skilled physician. He developed a scientific approach for administering pharmaceuticals to the patient with respect to their dosage and personal identifiers. (Piarroux and Faucher, 2012). For instance, he showed how the human body responded to different doses of anesthetic drugs. (Ball, 2008). Though the approach was formulated several decades back by Snow, the intervention still continues to be followed worldwide in the practice of medical science today. In the late 1840s, a widespread outbreak of cholera was witnessed in London. During this period Snow, using his scientific methodology, was able to discover the nature of a dangerous strain of cholera. By the use of