what was the medicl societies opinion of the medical system in teh civil war?

Answer 1

The AMA (American Medical Association) had been formed in 1847 - before the Civil War. There was an academic war of words between what was then standard (early scientific) academic medicine and alternative medicine – the strongest group being the homeopaths who advised very small doses of drugs in the treatment of illnesses. This became a bitter political issue with the American Medical Association caught in the crossfire. Considering the ineffectiveness and harmfulness of the medications given at that time - - especially the heavy doses of toxic mercury compounds, the school of homeopathy was clearly the lesser of two evils at that time. The AMA tried to reach a consensus regarding the best sort of care.
One notable AMA opinion (1849) - - “No one acquainted with the progress of medicine can hesitate to recognize its rapid expansion into a science.” The real crux of the issue – the question of how American medicine could be so backward in the 1860s - was the poor standards for education and certification of physicians and surgeons – which is the reason the AMA came into being. The criteria for medical school admission generally included only the means to pay the tuition. These very low scholarly requirements for doctors at that time added to poor quality medical care. In fairness to the doctors of the time, the science was in its infancy. There were few medicines that worked art all, and no one knew about micro-organisms causing infections. Even if they had known, there were no antibiotics.
Despite all this, the statistics for the Civil War soldiers were better than you might think. Approximately six of every seven wounded soldiers survived. There were improvements in surgery (thanks to much experience during the war with so many wounds) and there was a great improvement in ambulance services as well as sanitation / nutrition.