The medical field is a very interesting professional field. There are hundreds of different occupations in this field, ranging from saving the life of a fragile newborn to prescribing antibiotics to a relatively healthy adult. No two occupations are exactly alike, but each is equally important. While there are several job variations in medicine, they all have at least one thing in common. Every occupation in the medical field relies heavily on mathematics. Elementary mathematics, geometry, and algebra are all obviously crucial to advancing new technology, saving lives, and curing diseases. However, most people do not realize the importance that mathematics has on the simplest tasks performed every day by doctors, nurses, X-ray technicians, pharmacists, and hundreds of other jobs in this fascinating professional field. With the use of basic and advanced mathematics, we have achieved many life-saving medical advances and will continue to save lives and perform less complicated medical tasks. Perhaps one of the most used math skills in the medical field is unit conversion. According to a study based on IMS' Vector One database, 3,764,698,318 prescriptions were filled in the United States in 2011 alone (SDI Health). To prescribe and fill these prescriptions, pharmacists and physicians had to accurately calculate drug measurements. Drugs are prescribed using the metric system, often in milligrams per kilogram (Glydon). To figure out how much medicine to prescribe for a patient, a doctor must first convert the patient's weight from pounds to kilograms. Next, they must carefully calculate the amount of milligrams required per kilogram. Doctors need to be able to determine… middle of the paper… we actually would not have made the medical advances as we have and would not be able to save thousands of lives every day. Works Cited Boyd, J. Lucy. “How do nurses use mathematics in their work?” Work. Media and Web Question. March 26, 2014. .Glydon, Natasha. "Medicine and mathematics". Mathematics Central. Np, nd Web. March 26, 2014. .Health, SDI. "Total number of prescription drugs sold at retail at pharmacies « » The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation." State health facts. The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, n.d. Web. March 26, 2014. “What Tests Might Be Ordered.” Penn Orthopedics. Np, nd Web. March 26. 2014. .