Hippocratic Oath

Essay by John1122 April 2014

download word file, 1 pages 0.0

The Hippocratic Oath Today

The Hippocratic Oath has been applied to doctors since the time of the Ancient Greeks. Medical students within this generation still swear upon Hippocratic's Oath once commencing and concluding their medical studies. This brings into focus how important and how valued Hippocratic's Oath is within the medical community. However, the aim to find common ground between the current ethical and humanistic rights versus the Oath of Hippocrates is cause for great dilemma between doctors; dilemmas which are mainly caused by different modern interpretations of the Oath.

Hippocratic's Oath has been implemented in the lives of doctors in order to guide and give wisdom in difficult situations. Up to this day the main focus of a doctor is how to cure and treat a patient without doing any harm however, this basic rule may be demeaning for a medical professional. A particular circumstance can include a physician not knowing how to treat a particular individual.

In this type of situation a doctor must consult or send his patient to another doctor even if it means a negative impact towards the doctor because it is the best thing for the patient. Not only must doctors acknowledge what is best for their patient but they must also be able to build a trusting relationship with each patient. Patients must be able to trust doctors with their lives and health. To justify that trust, doctors must show respect for human life, promote public health and maintain their medical skills up to date.

The significance of trust between a doctor and his patient is very important however, being able to fully understand and care for a patient is a delicate skill that takes many years to master. Being able to look at a patient other than a group...