Medicine

See also: Disease, poison, and alchemy

Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of practices evolved to maintain and restore health, and to prevent and treat illness and disease.

Schools

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Anatomy

Anatomy concerns the structure of living things: humans and other humanoids, animals, monsters and plants. It is studied by healers to better effect their craft and is taught at universities specializing in medicine (see below). Unfortunately, the study of anatomy may also be used for more nefarious activities such as aiding torture.

Draconic anatomy

The anatomy of dragons is particularly well understood, and it is clear that dragons have many elements within their anatomy that are unique.

Apothecary and herbalism

For a list of apothecary's shops with articles on PathfinderWiki, see Category:Apothecary's shops.

For a list of herb shops with articles on PathfinderWiki, see Category:Herb shops.

Apothecaries and herbalists use their skills to provide substances, such as medicines, to aid healing. This study can be used for darker purposes, such as the manufacture of poisons and illicit drugs.

Pei Zing

Pei Zing herbalism is a medical practice popular across Tian Xia that associates life with the elements of wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Afflictions are categorized and treated accordingly, with treatments and elemental associations shifting with the seasons. The spread of Pei Zing practices was aided by the deity Qi Zhong.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture as a non-magical healing technique was pioneered by the famous healers of Chu Ye atop the core concepts of Pei Zing herbalism. It manipulates the flow of qi through a patient's body.

Chirurgery

See Surgery and chirurgery.

Herbalism

See Apothecary and herbalism.

Relaxation techniques

The use of relaxation techniques, such as massage, was pioneered by the famous healers of Chu Ye.

Surgery and chirurgery

Surgery, sometimes denoted as chirurgery, is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of injury, deformity, and disease by manual and instrumental means. This is a skilled exercise usually learned at a university.

The mi-go are known to perform surgery on creatures using their specialized claws as a defense or form of attack, and have mastered surgical technologies.

Trepanation

Trepanation is the practice of relieving pressure in the brain to heal and strengthen themselves of mental conditions, curses, and forms of compulsion. It is also ritually practiced by some followers of Lamashtu, who refer to it as the Ritual of the Third Eye.

In religion

Certain deities are particularly associated with medicine and healing:

• Bolka, the dwarven goddess of marriage
• Furcas, the infernal duke of herbalism
• Irori, the god of enlightenment and self-perfection
• Jiraviddain, a mysterious infernal duke
• Korada, an empyreal lord
• Lorcan, another mysterious infernal duke
• Milani, the patron of all those who fight against oppression and unjust rule
• Pharasma, goddess of birth, death, fate, and prophecy
• Qi Zhong, the Master of Medicine
• Sarenrae, goddess of healing, honesty, redemption, and the sun

Pharasma is also a goddess with aspects associated with both birth and death. Midwives and those dealing with the dead are often servants or followers of Pharasma.

Healing is part of Sarenrae's broader portfolio, and her church is well known for its treatment of the sick.

Qi Zhong is a patron deity of both healing in general and medicine in particular among the peoples of Tian Xia, and many involved in these studies worship him.

Aroden's religious text, The History and Future of Humanity‎, contains a treatise on medicine.

The psychopomp usher Dammar the Denied is the usher of medicine and doctors, but also of alcohol and those who make it—ostensibly for its medical uses, though legends also tell that the Denied invented hangovers.

In technology

Pharmaceuticals are technological applications of medical concepts, more advanced and versatile than other non-magical methods but limited in scope to Numeria and the Technic League that controls such discoveries. An especially complex example is the autodoc, a technological device capable of performing many kinds of medical procedures on a patient.

In practice

Many of the gods are associated with medicine and healing. On a more practical level, moreover, the gods are often the source of healing by granting their servants—such as clerics, paladins, and other divine spellcasters—spells and other abilities that can cure wounds, poisons, diseases, or the curses associated with supernatural afflictions, or even bring a patient back from the dead. These abilities are often associated with the Conjuration school of magic.

Some arcane spellcasters also have access to the Conjuration school's healing spells. Such healing comes not from the gods but from raw magic itself. This capability is used by the followers of Razmir, who provide arcane-based healing as a ruse to help convince non-believers that Razmir is indeed divine.

Mundane healing is also available, and in the god-rejecting country of Rahadoum is the only medical help available. Practitioners can buy herbs, drugs, and other mundane healing substances and tools to aid in mundane medical practices. (See "Apothecary and herbalism" above.)

In organizations

For a list of hospitals and similar healing establishments, see Category:Hospitals.

Medicine is taught at a number of institutions in Golarion, including:

• Alabaster Academy in Kintargo, Cheliax specializing in botany, medicine, and zoology.
• The University of Lepidstadt, in Ustalav.

References

For additional as-yet unincorporated sources about this subject, see the Meta page.