![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/F_A_Maulbertsch_Quacksalber.jpg/640px-F_A_Maulbertsch_Quacksalber.jpg&w=640&q=50)
Barber surgeon
Type of surgeon recruited as barbers / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Barber surgeon?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
The barber surgeon, one of the most common European medical practitioners of the Middle Ages, was generally charged with caring for soldiers during and after battle. In this era, surgery was seldom conducted by physicians, but instead by barbers, who, possessing razors and dexterity indispensable to their trade, were called upon for numerous tasks ranging from cutting hair to pulling teeth to amputating limbs.
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/F_A_Maulbertsch_Quacksalber.jpg/640px-F_A_Maulbertsch_Quacksalber.jpg)
In this period, surgical mortality was very high due to blood loss, shock and infection. Yet, since doctors thought that bloodletting to balance 'humours' would improve health, barbers also used bloodletting razors and applied leeches. Meanwhile, physicians considered themselves to be above surgery.[1] Physicians mostly observed during surgery and offered consulting, but otherwise often chose academia or working in universities.