The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences:
Health sciences – are those sciences which focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. These two subject matters relate to multiple academic disciplines,(and as such) both STEM disciplines, as well as emerging patient safety disciplines (such as social care research), and are both relevant to current health science knowledge.
Health sciences' knowledge bases are currently diverse, with intellectual foundations that are sometimes mutually-inconsistent. There is currently an existing bias in the field, towards high valuation of knowledge deriving from controlling views on the human agency (as epitomized by the epistemological basis of Randomized Control Trial designs); compare this against the more naturalistic views on human agency taken by research based on Ethnography for example).
Medicine and its branches
Medicine – applied science or practice of the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness. Some of its branches are:
- Anesthesiology – branch of medicine that deals with life support and anesthesia during surgery.
- Angiology - a branch of medicine that deals with the diseases of the circulatory system.
- Audiology - focuses on preventing and curing hearing damage.
- Bariatrics - the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity
- Cardiology – branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the blood vessels.
- Critical care medicine – focuses on life support and the intensive care of the seriously ill.
- Dentistry - branch of medicine that consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of the oral cavity, commonly in the dentition but also the oral mucosa, and of adjacent and related structures and tissues, particularly in the maxillofacial (jaw and facial) area.
- Dermatology – a branch of medicine that deals with the skin, its structure, functions, and diseases.
- Emergency medicine – focuses on care provided in the emergency department.
- Endocrinology – the branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the endocrine system.
- Family medicine - a medical specialty devoted to comprehensive health care for people of all ages.
- Gastroenterology – a branch of medicine that deals with the study and care of the digestive system.
- General Practice (often called Family Medicine) is a branch of medicine that specializes in primary care.
- Geriatrics – the branch of medicine that deals with the general health and well-being of the elderly.
- Gynecology – a branch of medicine that deals with the health of the female reproductive systems and the breasts.
- Hematology – branch of medicine that deals with the blood and the circulatory system.
- Hepatology – branch of medicine that deals with the liver, gallbladder and the biliary system.
- Infectious disease – the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and management of infectious disease, especially for complex cases and immunocompromised patients.
- Kinesiology - the scientific study of human or non-human body movement.
- Laboratory medicine – a branch of medicine that deals with diagnostic laboratory examinations and tests and their interpretation what makes in a medical laboratory.
- Medical physics – the branch of medicine and science that deals with applications of physics concepts, theories, and methods to medicine or health care.
- Neurology – a branch of medicine that deals with the brain and the nervous system.
- Nephrology – a branch of medicine which deals with the kidneys.
- Oncology – branch of medicine that studies of cancer.
- Ophthalmology – the branch of medicine that deals with the eyes.
- Orthopedics - branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system
- Otolaryngology – branch of medicine that deals the ears, nose and throat.
- Pathology – the study of diseases, and the causes, processes, nature, and development of the disease.
- Pediatrics – the branch of medicine that deals with the general health and well-being of children.
- Pharmacy - the art and practice of preparing, preserving, compounding, and dispensing medical drugs
- Pharmacology – study and practical application of preparation, use, and effects of drugs and synthetic medicines.
- Public health and preventive medicine - branch of medicine concerned with the health of populations.
- Pulmonology – the branch of medicine that deals with the respiratory system.
- Psychiatry – a branch of medicine that deals with the study, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders.
- Clinical psychology Health discipline concerned with the biopsychosocial study of the mind, brain, behavior and the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of psychological disorders.
- Radiology – the branch of medicine that employs medical imaging to diagnose and treat disease.
- Rheumatology – a branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatic diseases.
- Splanchnology – the branch of medicine that deals with visceral organs.
- Surgery – a branch of medicine that uses operative techniques to investigate or treat both disease and injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.
- Urology – the branch of medicine that deals with the urinary system and the male reproductive system.
- Veterinary medicine – a branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in nonhuman/animals.