Egyptians medicine reached a very high standard, and its reputation spread to neighboring countries. A student doctor learned from an established physician, perhaps his father, but there also seem to have been medical schools attached to the temples, and there was at least one school for midwives.
Many ancient Egyptian doctors were ‘general practitioners’ working in the community, but specialized in one part of the body. Medical texts that have survived give clues to the extent of the Egyptians’ knowledge. There were specialist books about every part of the body, texts specifically on gynecology, books for surgeons, dentists, and vets, and books giving recipes for medicines.
Doctors were instructed that when making a diagnosis they should, first observe the patient closely, then ask questions, inspect, smell, feel and probe. If they were then confident they could cure the patient they would say ‘An ailment I will treat’: if it was a more difficult case with an uncertain outcome they would say ‘An ailment with which I will contend’.
Egyptian doctor in 1300 BC
