What makes us doctors?
Hippocratic
Oath – Modern Version
Written
in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School
of Medicine at Tufts University
I
swear to fulfil, 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 [that] 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.
No comments:
Post a Comment