Do modern doctors bring the oath of Hippocrates?

Hippocrates usually talk about the oath of the highest principles of morality and ethics that any doctor should be guided by. We decided to check whether modern doctors really bring it.

Many Media, describing the recent graduations in higher medical educational institutions, They wrotethat yesterday's students took the oath of Hippocrates. The reference to the oath can Meet and in comments Users that in their understanding does not correspond to a high rank. Doctors themselves They tellthat the same oath remains very Popular The argument in the disputes of patients with medical personnel.

Various medical oaths existed before Hippocrates. The oath of Hippocrates, according to legend, Transmitted Oral from the teacher to the student since the time of Asclepius (mythical ancestor of Hippocrates) and only in the 3rd century BC. e. was in writing Fixed. The original oath contains the basic moral and ethical principles of the doctor:

• obligations to teachers, colleagues and students;
• The principle of non -objection;
• obligations of assistance to the patient (the principle of mercy);
• The principle of concern for the benefit of the patient and the dominant of the interests of the patient;
• the principle of respect for life and a negative attitude to euthanasia;
• the principle of respect for life and a negative attitude to abortion;
• an obligation to refuse intimate ties with patients;
• obligation of personal improvement;
• Medical secret (principle of confidentiality).

Since then, the oath text has changed repeatedly. In Christian Europe, the introductory part of “I swear by Apollo by a doctor, Asclepius, Giyiya and Panakey, all the gods and goddesses, taking them into witnesses” Replaced on the wording “May God be blessed, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed forever and ever; I do not lie. " In Judaism Entered In a similar way, removing the mention of ancient Greek gods and goddesses. IN Most There are no modern oaths to either the original ancient deities or to some other.

One of the most significant processing of the original oath can Name Geneva Declaration of the World Medical Association, adopted in 1948. It records the most important professional principles: medical secrets, medical ethics, actions for the good of the patient and the equality of patients, regardless of their “gender or age, illness or incapacity, religion, nationality, race, politics, sexual orientation or social status”. 

In the modern world, the oath was subjected to significant semantic changes. In all variations from it Removed The doctor’s promise not to “use the cross-section”, that is, not to treat the urine and cholelithiasis with an operational path, a promise to treat patients equally regardless of whether this slave is or a free person, as well as a item about the gratuitous training of the children of his mentor, since this is fundamentally contrary to modern representations and the way. In addition, in many variations of the oath there is no paragraph that the doctor will not contribute to euthanasia, will not carry out abortion, and also will not enter into an intimate connection with his patients. In the Russian version, the point on the inadmissibility of euthanasia Remained.

The first documented with a medical oath in Russian I became The oath of a doctor of the Soviet Union, approved in 1971. In 1994, she was replaced by an oath of a Russian doctor, in 1999 was Accepted Updated text - “Oath of the doctor of Russia”, and in 2011 it Entered in the law "On the basics of protecting the health of citizens in the Russian Federation." The oath does not have a direct legal force, since it contains many abstract concepts (for example, “keep gratitude and respect for your teachers, be demanding and fair to their students, promote their professional growth”), however, part of the provisions of the oath is recorded in other articles of the Federal Law “On the Basics of Protection of Citizens' Health in the Russian Federation”.

Thus, the wording of the “oath of Hippocrates” is now more likely to generalize and metaphorical significance, which refers to real oath after receiving a higher medical education with relevant obligations. At the same time, the general moral and ethical principles set forth in it, adjusted to modern realities, are still relevant, which is reflected in various national variants of the text of a solemn oath.

Most of the untruth

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Zhuan Jacques. "Hippocrates"
2. Mikhail Shifrin. “100 stories from the history of medicine. The greatest discoveries, exploits and crimes in the name of your health and longevity "