ABSTRACT
The relationship between medicine (an applied science) and medical science (basic science) is similar to that between materials engineering (an applied science) and materials science (basic science) (Chapter 1). Medicine is the applied science encompassing all health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of illness in human beings. Medical science, as the basic science of medicine, is about the principles of how the human body works and the mechanisms of diseases, aiming to find new ways to cure or treat disease by developing advanced diagnostic tools or new therapeutic strategies. Throughout human history, many principles of medicine were established based on their direct clinical application, especially in the case of pharmacology and surgery. Empirical knowledge in medicine has led to foundations in the theoretical system, medical science. At the same time, medical sciences have evolved independently and systematically, based on laboratory experimentation and discoveries from animal and cell/tissue-based models. Contemporary medicine applies medical science and technology to diagnose and treat injury and disease. Today, it is the advances in medical science and technology that enhance medical practices in the health care system, with constant feedback to engineering to continually improve the technology.
