Hippocratic Oath

The Hippocratic Oath is an oath that doctors often take to follow important rules for helping people. It comes from ancient Greece and is one of the oldest writings about how doctors should behave. When doctors say this oath, they promise to work hard to help patients and to keep their information private.

This oath talks about treating people with care and not doing anything that could hurt them. Even today, many doctors think about these ideas when they start their work. The Hippocratic Oath is important because it helps remind everyone that doctors should always try to do what is best for those who are sick.

Text of the oath

The original Hippocratic Oath was written in Ancient Greek between the fifth and third centuries BC. It is often linked to the Greek doctor Hippocrates, though many believe he did not write it himself. The oldest known version of the oath is from the 10th–11th century and is kept in the Vatican Library.

The oath includes promises to respect teachers, share knowledge with certain students, help patients, and keep private information safe. It also states that the doctor will not give harmful substances or perform certain procedures.

ὄμνυμι Ἀπόλλωνα ἰητρὸν καὶ Ἀσκληπιὸν καὶ Ὑγείαν καὶ Πανάκειαν καὶ θεοὺς πάντας τε καὶ πάσας, ἵστορας ποιεύμενος, ἐπιτελέα ποιήσειν κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ κρίσιν ἐμὴν ὅρκον τόνδε καὶ συγγραφὴν τήνδε:

ἡγήσεσθαι μὲν τὸν διδάξαντά με τὴν τέχνην ταύτην ἴσα γενέτῃσιν ἐμοῖς, καὶ βίου κοινωνεῖν, καὶ χρεῶν χρηΐζοντι μετάδοσιν ποιήσεσθαι, καὶ γένος τὸ ἐξ αὐτοῦ ἀδελφοῖς ἴσον ἐπικρινεῖν ἄρρεσι, καὶ διδάξειν τὴν τέχνην ταύτην, ἢν χρηΐζωσι μανθάνειν, ἄνευ μισθοῦ καὶ συγγραφῆς, παραγγελίης τε καὶ ἀκροήσιος καὶ τῆς λοίπης ἁπάσης μαθήσιος μετάδοσιν ποιήσεσθαι υἱοῖς τε ἐμοῖς καὶ τοῖς τοῦ ἐμὲ διδάξαντος, καὶ μαθητῇσι συγγεγραμμένοις τε καὶ ὡρκισμένοις νόμῳ ἰητρικῷ, ἄλλῳ δὲ οὐδενί.

διαιτήμασι τε χρήσομαι ἐπ᾽ ὠφελείῃ καμνόντων κατὰ δύναμιν καὶ κρίσιν ἐμήν, ἐπὶ δηλήσει δὲ καὶ ἀδικίῃ εἴρξηι.

οὐ δώσω δὲ οὐδὲ φάρμακον οὐδενὶ αἰτηθεὶς θανάσιμον, οὐδὲ ὑφηγήσομαι συμβουλίην τοιήνδε: ὁμοίως δὲ οὐδὲ γυναικὶ πεσσὸν φθόριον δώσω.

ἁγνῶς δὲ καὶ ὁσίως διατηρήσω βίον τὸν ἐμὸν καὶ τέχνην τὴν ἐμήν.

οὐ τεμέω δὲ οὐδὲ μὴν λιθιῶντας, ἐκχωρήσω δὲ ἐργάτῃσιν ἀνδράσι πρήξιος τῆσδε.

ἐς οἰκίας δὲ ὁκόσας ἂν ἐσίω, ἐσελεύσομαι ἐπ᾽ ὠφελείῃ καμνόντων, ἐκτὸς ἐὼν πάσης ἀδικίης ἑκουσίης καὶ φθορίης, τῆς τε ἄλλης καὶ ἀφροδισίων ἔργων ἐπί τε γυναικείων σωμάτων καὶ ἀνδρῴων, ἐλευθέρων τε καὶ δοὺλων.

ἃ δ᾽ ἂν ἐνθεραπείῃ ἴδω ἢ ἀκούσω, ἢ καὶ ἄνευ θεραπείης κατὰ βίον ἀνθρώπων, ἃ μὴ χρή ποτε ἐκλαλεῖσθαι ἔξω, σιγήσομαι, ἄρρητα ἡγεύμενος εἶναι ταῦτα.

ὅρκον μὲν οὖν μοι τόνδε ἐπιτελέα ποιέοντι, καὶ μὴ συγχέοντι, εἴη ἐπαύρασθαι καὶ βίου καὶ τέχνης δοξαζομένῳ παρὰ πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐς τὸν αἰεὶ χρόνον: παραβαίνοντι δὲ καὶ ἐπιορκέοντι, τἀναντία τούτων.

Translation:

I swear by Apollo Healer, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will carry out, according to my ability and judgment, this oath and this indenture.

To hold my teacher in this art equal to my own parents; to make him partner in my livelihood; when he is in need of money to share mine with him; to consider his family as my own brothers, and to teach them this art, if they want to learn it, without fee or indenture; to impart precept, oral instruction, and all other instruction to my own sons, the sons of my teacher, and to indentured pupils who have taken the Healer's oath, but to nobody else.

I will use those dietary regimens which will benefit my patients according to my greatest ability and judgment, and I will do no harm or injustice to them. Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. Similarly I will not give to a woman a pessary to cause abortion. But I will keep pure and holy both my life and my art. I will not use the knife, not even, verily, on sufferers from stone, but I will give place to such as are craftsmen therein.

Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick, and I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm, especially from abusing the bodies of man or woman, bond or free. And whatsoever I shall see or hear in the course of my profession, as well as outside my profession in my intercourse with men, if it be what should not be published abroad, I will never divulge, holding such things to be holy secrets.

Now if I carry out this oath, and break it not, may I gain for ever reputation among all men for my life and for my art; but if I break it and forswear myself, may the opposite befall me.

— Translation by W.H.S. Jones

Context and interpretation

The Hippocratic Oath is perhaps the most famous text from a collection of ancient medical writings called the Hippocratic Corpus. Most experts today think it was not actually written by Hippocrates, but was created several centuries ago. It talks about important ethical rules for doctors, like keeping medical secrets safe and treating patients with respect.

The oath also has some rules that seem different from other ancient medical writings. For example, it says doctors should not use knives for certain procedures, even though other texts describe how to do surgery. The oath also mentions not helping people end their own lives or giving medicines that would cause harm, even though some stories tell of ancient doctors who did help in such situations. There are also different views on whether the oath forbade doctors from helping with endings of pregnancies, with some thinkers thinking it did and others thinking it did not. Over time, the meaning of these rules has been understood in many ways by different people.

The oath uses many religious ideas and promises to keep the art of medicine "pure and holy." This is different from other ancient writings on doctor ethics, which focus more on being practical and effective. Even so, the Hippocratic Oath became very important to doctors, and versions of it are still used today.

Main article: Primum non nocere

Modern versions and relevance

The Hippocratic Oath has been replaced by more detailed rules for doctors. In 1803, Thomas Percival created one of the first modern codes of medical ethics. Later, groups like the American Medical Association and the British General Medical Council made their own guides for doctors. These guides explain what doctors should and should not do.

In 1948, the World Medical Association made a new oath called the Declaration of Geneva. In 1964, Louis Lasagna created a modern version of the Hippocratic Oath that focused on respecting human life without involving any gods. Many medical schools still use this version today. Today, most medical schools have their own versions of oaths for new doctors to take. There are no direct punishments for breaking the Hippocratic Oath, but doctors can face consequences for harmful actions under other laws.