My Hippocratic Oath

On admission as a member of the medical profession, I solemnly pledge:

• To keep the health of my patient as my first priority, understanding that treating the disease is not the same as healing the patient;
• To treat patients with dignity and respect, regardless of their social group or status, and keep in confidence their private histories;
• To work collaboratively with other medical professionals, community and religious leaders, and family members and friends;
• To commit myself to lifelong learning and recognize when I become unable to care for patients due to personal handicap;
• To encourage healthy behavior within communities, remembering that preventing disease is preferable to curing it;
• To maintain my own physical, emotional, and spiritual health so that I am able to effectively serve my patients.

 

JUSTIFICATION:

My intent with this pledge is to address the patient first. The biopsychosocial model of health teaches us that patients are more than pathologic processes. I address this fact in the first line and again in the third line, as it pertains to collaboration with other important people in the patients’ lives. The second line addresses the importance of the patient’s trust in the doctor. They must feel accepted regardless of age, sex, race, or religion and must feel comfortable revealing private facts that are necessary for us to diagnose and treat the disease. In the fourth line I discuss the fact that medical knowledge is not static, but constantly growing and changing. In order to be effective physicians, we need to keep up with this expansion. We also must be aware of our physical, emotional, and intellectual limits so we do not hurt our patients. In the fifth and sixth lines, I wanted to step back and remind everyone of a duty to our community health and a duty to our own health, which seems neglected in many similar oaths.

I removed some of the lines in the Declaration of Geneva because they seemed self-evident or common to all professions (e.g., treat colleagues as siblings, respect teachers, practice with conscience) and not unique to the medical profession.