A set of ethical principles derived from the writings of the Greek physician Hippocrates that is concerned with a doctor’s duty to work for the good of the patient.
An oath once (but no longer) taken by doctors on quali?cation, setting out the moral precepts of their profession and binding them to a code of behaviour and practice aimed at protecting the interests of their patients. The oath is named after HIPPOCRATES (460–377 BC), the Greek ‘father of medicine’. Almost half of British medical students and 98 per cent of American ones make a ceremonial commitment to assume the responsibilities and obligations of the medical profession, but not by reciting this oath.
an oath that is often assumed to be taken but is actually rarely sworn by doctors. It is a code of behaviour and practice commonly attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates (460–370 bc), known as the ‘Father of Medicine’, and taken by the students of the medical school in Cos where he taught, but both the authorship and application of the oath to Hippocrates’ students has been disputed. The ideas promulgated by the original oath are now seriously out of date (for instance there is no discussion of *truth-telling), and some medical schools have created modern alternatives for their own use. See also beneficence; medical ethics.
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