There were three levels of those who practiced medicine. Physicians were at the top and were the only ones who could be members of the Faculty of Medicine. Master surgeons were the next group. Paré belonged to the lowest group, the barber-surgeons. At the time wars were being fought all around him. Battlefield medicine was brutal and dirty. Firearms were a new weapon on the battlefield and were causing new and different wounds. Shrapnel, shot and bullets were a new problem for surgeons. They also believed gunpowder was poisonous. To stop the bleeding, they poured boiling oil over the wound. This burned an already suffering soldier.