Yuriy Drohobych - Teaching

Teaching

In 1478 Drohobych received his doctorate in philosophy, but he continued his studies. This time he took up medicine. At that time natural philosophy disciplines were closely connected. Almost all contemporary philosophers demonstrated equally strong prowess in astronomy and medicine, which allowed university professors to transfer from one department to another. Similar methods were used in teaching both disciplines. It was done through reading and interpretation of Latin translations of Greek and Arab classical authors. Medicine was considered the key to understanding nature. Shortly after Drohobych completed his medical studies, he was offered a position to teach astronomy at Bologna University. At the beginning of 1481, the student body of the University elected Drohobych to become the rector of the school of Medicine and Free Arts. He was only thirty at the time. For a year, which was the regular term in office for an elected rector, he combined his academic responsibilities, which included teaching astronomy and medical research, with administrative obligations. He had civil and legal authority over the students and faculty who were under his supervision. In 1482 he received his PhD in medicine.

In 1486 Drohobych returned to Krakow. He started his medical practice and also taught medicine at Krakow University. Similar to his peers from Bologna, he based his lectures on the works of Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna. A few years later, he received his professorship in medicine and became the doctor of the Polish king Casimir IV Jagiellon. In 1492 he became the Dean of the Department of Medicine. It was customary at that time for professors to have off-site meetings to discuss with students issues that did not fit the official scientific doctrine. Copernicus attended Drohobych's meetings, however it is not certain whether the former had an influence on the latter.

It's worth noting that that at that time ‘medicine' as we understand the term today was viewed differently in the 15th century. In fact, there were two terms designated to define healing practices. The term ‘medicine' derived from the Latin verb medico, meaning "to drug". The practice of medicine therefore emphasized an ability to administer curative remedies. Such remedies might be the potions of quacks (quackery), developed only to make the seller a profit, or therapies that were invented or revised on the basis of experiences of a particular practitioner with patients and remedies. What was crucial to good medical practice was what we call nowadays "clinical experience": an experienced judgment about what remedies would help a particular patient. A medical education in universities, therefore, might supplement, but was not always necessary for "medical" practice. Hence, practitioners of medicine without university degrees were called "empirics" by the educated physicians. For their part, physicians themselves practiced another kind of healing art, "physic". The term derived from the Greek noun physis, meaning "nature". Physicians had to study natural philosophy because the purposes of physic were to preserve health and prolong life; healing the sick was an important part, but only one of the many parts, of physic. The physician had to be able to offer advice to the healthy as well as to the sick about how to live according to nature, for being in harmony with nature would result in the preservation of health as well as the prolongation of life. Thus "medicine" and "physic," as used in the late 1400s, are terms that suggest the differences between major traditions in the healing arts: one based upon experience, the other upon learning; one concerned primarily with healing, the other primarily with the preservation of health. Drohobych's appointment to King Casimir's court is an indication that he succeeded in both healing fields, because such an important position required extraordinary knowledge of philosophy and natural philosophy as well as practical experience in curing illnesses.