An interesting analogy that I came across while surfing around…

War against disease (e.g. “Battle” against SARS)
Disease is the enemy, which threatens to invade the body and overwhelms its defenses
Medicine combats disease with batteries of tests and arsenals of drugs
Young physicians are called House Officers and Medical Officers.

extracted from ‘Moral Aspects of Inter-professional Relationships in Patient Care’ by Dr. Peter Mack
Senior Consultant, Department of Surgery
Singapore General Hospital

Funny, I’ve never really thought of it this way.