2. • The Hippocratic Oath is an oath historically taken by Physicians and other
healthcare professionals swearing to practice medicine honestly.
• It is widely believed to have been written by Hippocrates, often regarded as
the father of western medicine, or by one of his students.
• The oath is written in lonic Greek at late 5th century BC.
• The oath is considered a rite of passage for practitioners of medicine in
many countries, although nowadays the modernized version of the text
varies among them.
• The Hippocratic Oath is one of the most widely known of Greek medical
texts.
• It requires a new physician to swear upon a number of healing gods that he
will uphold a number of professional ethical standards.
3. Hippocratic Oath – Modern Version
• Written in 1964 by Louis
Lasagna, Academic Dean of
the School of Medicine at
Tufts University, and used in
many medical schools today.
4. •I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment,
this covenant
•I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those
physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such
knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.
•I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures
[that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of
overtreatment and Therapeutic nihilism.
5. •I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as
science, and that warmth, sympathy, and
understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the
chemist's drug.
•I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I
fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another
are needed for a patient's recovery.
6. • I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their
problems are not disclosed to me that the world may
know. Most especially must I tread with care in
matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a
life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to
take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced
with great humbleness and awareness of my own
frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
7. • I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a
cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose
illness may affect the person's family and economic
stability. My responsibility includes these related
problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.
• I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is
preferable to cure.
8. • If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art,
respected while I live and remembered with affection
thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest
traditions of my calling and may I long experience the
joy of healing those who seek my help.
9. Summary: The Hippocratic Oath
• Respect your teachers.
• Pledge your life to the service of others.
• Place your patients interests before your own.
• Protect your patients from harm & injustice.
• Treat all patients equally.
• Respect patient’s right to make decisions.
• Continue to improve the care you give.
• Do not become intimate with patients. Try to prevent as well as cure
disease.
• Protect your patients’ confidentiality.
• Impart your medical knowledge to others.