New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

Modern approaches to medical treatment

I can assess the extent of change in modern approaches to medical treatment.

New
New
Year 10
Edexcel

Modern approaches to medical treatment

I can assess the extent of change in modern approaches to medical treatment.

These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.

Switch to our new teaching resources now - designed by teachers and leading subject experts, and tested in classrooms.

These resources were created for remote use during the pandemic and are not designed for classroom teaching.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Technology used to produce medicine has made some treatments more widely available.
  2. Technology has allowed new treatments to be developed for a wide range of conditions.
  3. Alternative treatments continue to be used in modern Britain.
  4. Acupuncture, herbal remedies and homeopathy are all popular treatments.

Keywords

  • Automation - to control something using machines and not people

  • Mainstream medicine - in a modern context, practices conducted by trained professionals, based on scientific methods and evidence

Common misconception

Alternative medicines were mostly abandoned during the course of the 20th century.

Alternative medicines, including practices like homeopathy and the use of herbal medicines, have remained popular, even in 21st century Britain.


To help you plan your year 10 history lesson on: Modern approaches to medical treatment, download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...

Before completing Task B, instruct pupils to make a quick table with methods of treatment in use in 1900 listed in one column and methods of treatment in use in the 21st century listed in the other. Pupils can then identify some changes and continuities to help support their answers.
Teacher tip

Equipment

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of sensitive content
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

Loading...

Prior knowledge starter quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
Match each word with its correct definition.

Correct Answer:quack medicines,medical practices which are useless and untrustworthy

medical practices which are useless and untrustworthy

Correct Answer:antibiotic,medicine which destroys or limits the growth of bacteria in the body

medicine which destroys or limits the growth of bacteria in the body

Correct Answer:vaccine,something given to people to stop them developing particular disease

something given to people to stop them developing particular disease

Q2.
Identify the examples of magic bullets.

mercury
penicillin
Correct answer: Prontosil
Correct answer: Salvarsan 606
streptomycin

Q3.
When did Alexander Fleming discover that penicillin can destroy some types of bacteria?

1888
1908
Correct answer: 1928
1948
1968

Q4.
What proportion of deaths in the UK in 2000 were caused by infectious diseases?

Correct answer: 1%
12%
23%
34%
45%

Q5.
Which conflict encouraged the US and British governments to support the mass production of penicillin?

Boer War
World War One
Correct answer: World War Two
Vietnam War

Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following developments into chronological order.

1 - inoculation introduced to Britain
2 - smallpox vaccine developed
3 - Germ Theory first published
4 - Salvarsan 606 discovered
5 - Prontosil discovered
6 - first successful trial of penicillin to treat a human patient

Assessment exit quiz

Download quiz pdf

6 Questions

Q1.
means to control something using machines and not people.

Correct Answer: Automation

Q2.
How many doses of penicillin were produced in the UK in 2023?

over 1000
over 100 000
over 1 million
Correct answer: over 10 million

Q3.
What does radiotherapy treatment involve?

antibiotics
herbal remedies
vaccines
Correct answer: X-rays

Q4.
release electrical pulses to help keep people's heartbeats regular.

Correct Answer: Pacemakers

Q5.
What is it claimed that St John's wort can treat?

Correct answer: anxiety
cancer
diabetes
flu

Q6.
Which statement is correct?

Homeopathy is supported by a lot of scientific evidence.
Correct answer: Homeopathy is supported by some high-profile individuals.
Homeopathy lacks support from both scientific evidence or high-profile figures.
Homeopathy has support from both scientific evidence and high-profile figures.

Additional material

Download additional material