What's with medical symbols and snakes?

[TexasTriathlete]

Osteopathic:

Allopathic:

So all licensed "fully-functional" physicians are symbolically represented by a stick with either one or two snakes crawling up it.

In my experience as a trauma center volunteer, any time a snake is involved with medicine, it is decidedly bad. In fact, I have never heard of any instance in which snakes have been used in a good way that is relevant to medicine.

During a trauma stat, I have never heard anything along the lines of... "Starflight is bringing us a cat 1 trauma. GSW to the chest. GCS of 8. Heart rate is 65, blood pressure is 120/75. EtOH on board. Already tubed en-route... get the crash cart ready, and COULD I GET A VOLUNTEER AND A TECH TO RUN DOWN TO STERILE PROCESSING AND GET US A TRAY OF SNAKES?"

Can anyone shed some light on this?

I know they use venom to make antiserum, but that is a stretch.

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[DocRawk]

The stick is a pestle as in Mortar and Pestle. I'm not sure about the DO symbol, but the MD symbol was explained to me as the wings symbolizing help and the snake symbolizing harm. Has to do with the fact that any substance can help or harm, and it is the physician's responsibility to make sure it is the former.

 

[DocRawk]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What is the D.O. symbol and what does it represent?.[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
The D.O. symbol is called the Staff of Aesclepius (often spelled Aesculapius) and consists of a single serpent encircling a staff, or classically a rough-hewn knotty tree limb. The staff was named after a skilled physician who practiced in Greece around 1200 BC. The term can also be found in Homer's Iliad. Aesclepius is commonly referred to as the Greek god of Healing.

From: http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=faq_cons#dosymbol
.

 

[Unknown3234]

found this on the UIC.edu website.

http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/3_2SymbolsSnakesHealing.htm

 

[CatsandCradles]

The stick is a pestle as in Mortar and Pestle. I'm not sure about the DO symbol, but the MD symbol was explained to me as the wings symbolizing help and the snake symbolizing harm. Has to do with the fact that any substance can help or harm, and it is the physician's responsibility to make sure it is the former.

I think there are two lines of thought about the DO symbol.

1. It either represents the staff os Ascelpius - a Greek healing god. I read somehwhere that he heavily favored prevention and a healthy life style. This does reflect the osteopathic philosophy.

or

2. It comes from a section out of Exodus, where the Isrealites are struck with a plauge and Moses tells them to look at a staff with a serpent wrapped around it. Considering AT Still came from a family of itinerant preachers, this sounds plausible.

 

[igcgnerd]

Snakes have been used for the advancement of medicine. Thats how anti venom was developed.

 

[CatsandCradles]

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]What is the D.O. symbol and what does it represent?.[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]
The D.O. symbol is called the Staff of Aesclepius (often spelled Aesculapius) and consists of a single serpent encircling a staff, or classically a rough-hewn knotty tree limb. The staff was named after a skilled physician who practiced in Greece around 1200 BC. The term can also be found in Homer's Iliad. Aesclepius is commonly referred to as the Greek god of Healing.

From: http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=faq_cons#dosymbol
.

Wow neat history

 

[Meatwad]

found this on the UIC.edu website.

http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/3_2SymbolsSnakesHealing.htm

Ahh, beat me to it about the guinea worm.

Plus, snake venom is used to make antidotes, therefore rendering it extremely useful in medicine. Granted, it is useful only because it was the cause of the illness in the first place, but I'm not here to judge the snake on his or her actions...

 

[DocRawk]

found this on the UIC.edu website.

http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/3_2SymbolsSnakesHealing.htm

That has to be one of the most disturbing thing's I've ever read...and it's still around.

 

[Meatwad]

BTW, the Caduceus is lame compared to the Staff of Asclepius. The Staff is the legit symbol for medicine. The Caduceus is the symbol used for commerce, or for people that are in a cult that sacrifice stuff to Hermes. unfortunately, hundred years ago, quack alchemists were considered basically doctors, so the Caduceus was synonymous with physicians. I guess people liked the look of it, and it stuck, even though it was definitely not started with the intention of representing (modern) medicine.

 

[Unknown3234]

The DO symbol is much closer to the greek one. A staff with one snake or worm, also similar to the AMA's symbol.

 

[HrvatskiDoktor]

I took a history of medicine course as an undergrad and my professor believed that both the MD and DO symbols are direct decendants of the passage in Exodus where Moses was told to hold up a staff with a snake wrapped around it and anyone who looked at the staff would not get bitten, but whoever did not look at the staff would be bitten and die.

I don't remember the other references, but he also talked about other similar stories from non-Hebrew culturals in the Anceint Near East. But seeing as I am at work and not near my old notes, I can't give direct quotes right now

 

[mastamark]

I took a history of medicine course as an undergrad and my professor believed that both the MD and DO symbols are direct decendants of the passage in Exodus where Moses was told to hold up a staff with a snake wrapped around it and anyone who looked at the staff would not get bitten, but whoever did not look at the staff would be bitten and die.

I don't remember the other references, but he also talked about other similar stories from non-Hebrew culturals in the Anceint Near East. But seeing as I am at work and not near my old notes, I can't give direct quotes right now

Yeah, I heard this one as well. I guess it can be assumed that he was teaching them how to remove those "fiery serpents" from the children's feet. I like the story by UIC posted earlier.

http://www.uic.edu/classes/osci/osci590/3_2SymbolsSnakesHealing.htm

btw the single snake and single staff are the correct representation for the medical symbol. That caduceus is not. That is just a mixing of symbols over time.

 

[emeddo]

Here is the direct story from the KJV (Numbers:21). Sounds like some of you need to brush up on your Sunday School:

6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 ¶ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have asinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall blive.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.


The whole point of the symbol was that the people that looked to the sign were healed, while those that turned away from it died. Though admittedly more people that looked toward that symbol of medicine when it was first being used probably died than those that stayed away from medicine back then.

 

[TexasTriathlete]

I would probably look at the sign in that situation

 

[mastamark]

Here is the direct story from the KJV (Numbers:21). Sounds like some of you need to brush up on your Sunday School:

6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 ¶ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have asinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall blive.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.


The whole point of the symbol was that the people that looked to the sign were healed, while those that turned away from it died. Though admittedly more people that looked toward that symbol of medicine when it was first being used probably died than those that stayed away from medicine back then.

That'll work. Oopsy on my misquote/misinterpretation.