Hippocratic Oath -- Classical Version
I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and
Panaceia and all the gods and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that
I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath and this
covenant:
To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to
live my life in partnership with him, and if he is in need of money to
give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as equal to my
brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art - if they desire to
learn it - without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and
oral instruction and all the other learning to my sons and to the sons
of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant
and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.
I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to
my ability and judgment; I will keep them from harm and injustice.
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will
I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman
an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard my life and my
art.
I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will
withdraw in favor of such men as are engaged in this work.
Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick,
remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all mischief and in
particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be
they free or slaves.
What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of
the treatment in regard to the life of men, which on no account one must
spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be
spoken about.
If I fulfil this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to
enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all men for all time
to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all
this be my lot.
Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The
Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by Ludwig
Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.
Hippocratic Oath -- Modern Version
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this
covenant:
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in
whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with
those who are to follow.
I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures which are
required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic
nihilism.
I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and
that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's
knife or the chemist's drug.
I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to
call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a
patient's recovery.
I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not
disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread
with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a
life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life;
this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and
awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth,
but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and
economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems,
if I am to care adequately for the sick.
I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to
cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special
obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body
as well as the infirm.
If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while
I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as
to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long
experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.
Written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the
School of Medicine at Tufts University, and used in many medical schools
today.
Hippocrates Award for Medical Education Honorees