|
Free Books
Forum
| |
|
This has nothing to do with
the Bookstore, but is an interesting article I came
across while doing other research. I thought to
share this with others who may also have an interest
in these things. Please note that I did not
write this article nor do the research mentioned, that
was done by the author. Enjoy,
George |
"First, do no harm": Not in
the Hippocratic Oath
It is a widely held misconception that
the familiar dictum "First, do no harm"
comes from the Hippocratic Oath, an oath many
physicians take when they enter medical practice.
However, the Hippocratic Oath does not and
never did contain those words (nor was it actually
written by Hippocrates, according to many sources). It
expresses a similar idea, but never employs the words
"First, do no harm."
It is the opinion of many scholars that
Hippocrates did, in fact, originate the phrase, but
did so in his Epidemics, Bk. I, Sect. XI. One
translation reads: "Declare the past, diagnose
the present, foretell the future; practice these acts.
As to diseases, make a habit of two things — to
help, or at least to do no harm."
The Greek "First, do no harm"
becomes "Primum non nocere" in Latin. A
translation of the original perhaps, but some sources
attribute "Primum non nocere" to the Roman
physician, Galen.
Today there is no single oath that all
physicians take upon entering practice. Depending on
where they earn their medical degrees, they may take
any one of many pledges, but all embody the ethics and
ideals of Hippocrates, the acknowledged father of
modern medicine.
The exact wording of the original oath has
been subject to dispute, as translations and
interpretations of the original Greek have varied.
Complicating the picture are the many modernizations
of the oath which take into account changes in
language, social mores, and medicine itself over the
centuries.
—Susan Records
|
|
The
Hippocratic Oath
(An Early Version)
I swear by Apollo the physician and Aesculapius, and
Health, and All-heal, and all the gods and goddesses,
that, according to my ability and judgement, I will keep
this Oath and this stipulation.
To reckon him who taught me this Art
equally dear to me as my parents, to share my substance
with him, and relieve his necessities if required; to
look upon his offspring in the same footing as my own
brothers, and to teach them this art, if they shall wish
to learn it, without fee or stipulation; and that by
precept, lecture, and every other mode of instruction, I
will impart a knowledge of the Art to my own sons, and
those of my teachers, and to disciples bound by a
stipulation and oath according to the law of medicine,
but to none others.
I will follow that system of regimen
which, according to my ability and judgement, I consider
for the benefit of my patients, and abstain from
whatever is deleterious and mischievous. I will give no
deadly medicine to any one if asked, nor suggest any
such counsel; and in like manner I will not give to a
woman a pessary to produce abortion.
With purity and with holiness I will
pass my life and practice my Art. I will not cut persons
labouring under the stone, but will leave this to be
done by men who are practitioners of this work. Into
whatever houses I enter, I will go into them for the
benefit of the sick, and will abstain from every
voluntary act of mischief and corruption; and, further,
from the seduction of females or males, of freemen and
slaves.
Whatever, in connection with my
professional service, or not in connection with it, I
see or hear, in the life of men, which ought not to be
spoken of abroad, I will not divulge, as reckoning that
all such should be kept secret.
While I continue to keep this Oath
unviolated, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and
the practice of the art, respected by all men, in all
times. But should I trespass and violate this Oath, may
the reverse be my lot.
|
|
The
Hippocratic Oath
(A Modern Version)
I swear in the
presence of the Almighty and before my family, my
teachers and my peers that according to my ability and
judgment I will keep this Oath and Stipulation.
To reckon all who have taught me this
art equally dear to me as my parents and in the same
spirit and dedication to impart a knowledge of the art
of medicine to others. I will continue with diligence to
keep abreast of advances in medicine. I will treat
without exception all who seek my ministrations, so long
as the treatment of others is not compromised thereby,
and I will seek the counsel of particularly skilled
physicians where indicated for the benefit of my
patient.
I will follow that method of treatment
which according to my ability and judgment, I consider
for the benefit of my patient and abstain from whatever
is harmful or mischievous. I will neither prescribe nor
administer a lethal dose of medicine to any patient even
if asked nor counsel any such thing nor perform the
utmost respect for every human life from fertilization
to natural death and reject abortion that deliberately
takes a unique human life.
With purity, holiness and beneficence I
will pass my life and practice my art. Except for the
prudent correction of an imminent danger, I will neither
treat any patient nor carry out any research on any
human being without the valid informed consent of the
subject or the appropriate legal protector thereof,
understanding that research must have as its purpose the
furtherance of the health of that individual. Into
whatever patient setting I enter, I will go for the
benefit of the sick and will abstain from every
voluntary act of mischief or corruption and further from
the seduction of any patient.
Whatever in connection with my
professional practice or not in connection with it I may
see or hear in the lives of my patients which ought not
be spoken abroad, I will not divulge, reckoning that all
such should be kept secret.
While I continue to keep this Oath
unviolated may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the
practice of the art and science of medicine with the
blessing of the Almighty and respected by my peers and
society, but should I trespass and violate this Oath,
may the reverse be my lot.
|
|
Another Modern Oath
Another
version, approved by the American Medical Association, is as
follows:
You
do solemnly swear, each by whatever he or she holds most
sacred: That you will be loyal to the Profession of Medicine
and just and generous to its members. That you will lead your
lives and practice your art in uprightness and honor.
That
into whatsoever house you shall enter, it shall be for the
good of the sick to the utmost of your power, your holding
yourselves far aloof from wrong, from corruption, from the
tempting of others to vice.
That
you will exercise your art solely for the cure of your
patients, and will give no drug, perform no operation, for a
criminal purpose, even if solicited, far less suggest it.
That
whatsoever you shall see or hear of the lives of men or
women which is not fitting to be spoken, you will keep
inviolably secret.
These
things do you swear. Let each bow the head in sign of
acquiescence. And now, if you will be true to this, your oath,
may prosperity and good repute be ever yours; the opposite, if
you shall prove yourselves forsworn.
|
Oath and Law of Hippocrates
From
"Harvard Classics Volume 38"
Copyright 1910 by P.F. Collier and Son.
This text is placed in the Public Domain, June 1993.
Introductory
Note
Hippocrates,
the celebrated Greek physician, was a contemporary of the
historian Herodotus. He was born in the island of Cos between
470 and 460 BC, and belonged to the family that claimed
descent from the mythical Aesculapius, son of Apollo. There
was already a long medical tradition in Greece before his day,
and this he is supposed to have inherited chiefly through his
predecessor Herodicus; and he enlarged his education by
extensive travel. He is said, though the evidence is
unsatisfactory, to have taken part in the efforts to check the
great plague which devastated Athens at the beginning of the
Peloponnesian war.
He
died at Larissa between 380 and 360 BC The works attributed to
Hippocrates are the earliest extant Greek medical writings,
but very many of them are certainly not his. Some five or six,
however, are generally granted to be genuine, and among these
is the famous "Oath." This interesting document
shows that in his time physicians were already organized into
a corporation or guild, with regulations for the training of
disciples, and with an esprit de corps and a professional
ideal which, with slight exceptions, can hardly yet be
regarded as out of date.
One
saying occurring in the words of Hippocrates has achieved
universal currency, though few who quote it today are aware
that it originally referred to the art of the physician. It is
the first of his "Aphorisms": "Life is short,
and the Art long; the occasion fleeting; experience
fallacious, and judgment difficult. The physician must not
only be prepared to do what is right himself, but also to make
the patient, the attendants, and externals cooperate."
The
Law of Hippocrates
Medicine
is of all the arts the most noble; but, owing to the ignorance
of those who practice it, and of those who, inconsiderately,
form a judgment of them, it is at present far behind all the
other arts.
Their
mistake appears to me to arise principally from this, that in
the cities there is no punishment connected with the practice
of medicine (and with it alone) except disgrace, and that does
not hurt those who are familiar with it. Such persons are the
figures which are introduced in tragedies, for as they have
the shape, and dress, and personal appearance of an actor, but
are not actors, so also physicians are many in title but very
few in reality.
Whoever
is to acquire a competent knowledge of medicine, ought to be
possessed of the following advantages: a natural disposition;
instruction; a favorable position for the study; early
tuition; love of labour; leisure. First of all, a natural
talent is required; for, when Nature leads the way to what is
most excellent, instruction in the art takes place, which the
student must try to appropriate to himself by reflection,
becoming an early pupil in a place well adapted for
instruction. He must also bring to the task a love of labour
and perseverance, so that the instruction taking root may
bring forth proper and abundant fruits.
Instruction
in medicine is like the culture of the productions of the
earth. For our natural disposition, is, as it were, the soil;
the tenets of our teacher are, as it were, the seed;
instruction in youth is like the planting of the seed in the
ground at the proper season; the place where the instruction
is communicated is like the food imparted to vegetables by the
atmosphere; diligent study is like the cultivation of the
fields; and it is time which imparts strength to all things
and brings them to maturity. Having brought all these
requisites to the study of medicine, and having acquired a
true knowledge of it, we shall thus, in travelling through the
cities, be esteemed physicians not only in name but in
reality.
But
inexperience is a bad treasure, and a bad fund to those who
possess it, whether in opinion or reality, being devoid of
self-reliance and contentedness, and the nurse both of
timidity and audacity. For timidity betrays a want of powers,
and audacity a lack of skill. They are, indeed, two things,
knowledge and opinion, of which the one makes its possessor
really to know, the other to be ignorant. Those things which
are sacred, are to be imparted only to sacred persons; and it
is not lawful to impart them to the profane until they have
been initiated into the mysteries of the science.
|
The Modern Oath of Hippocrates
| We owe the American Medical Association our profound
and sincere apology. The so-called Modern Oath of
Hippocrates which had previously been on this site is
incorrect. Although we received the "Modern
Oath" from a reliable medical doctor,
unfortunately that oath did not originate from the
AMA. The AMA has been kind enough to do some in-house
research to determine if the Modern Oath on this site
had somehow originated from the AMA. It had not. The
AMA has a code of ethics, but there is, in fact, no
version of the Hippocratic Oath that the AMA espouses
or promotes. This is the information we have received
from the AMA's Ethics Division.
Our own research on the Hippocratic Oath, inspired
by the discovery that our posting of the Modern Oath
did not originate from the AMA, has been most
interesting. While it is common knowledge among both
doctors and the lay public that doctors take an oath
that says, "Never do harm," the fact is that
not all medical schools require their graduating
doctors take the Hippocratic Oath. In addition,
Medicine's use of the Oath changes over time. Here are
some items for your consideration, the results of a
study by Robert Orr, M.D. and Norman Pang, M.D., in
which 157 deans of allopathic and osteopathic schools
of medicine in Canada and the United States were
surveyed regarding the use of the Hippocratic Oath:
1. In 1993, 98% of schools administered some form
of the Oath.
2. In 1928, only 26% of schools administered some
form of the Oath.
3. Only 1 school used the original Hippocratic
Oath.
4. 68 schools used versions of the original
Hippocratic Oath.
5. 100% of current Oaths pledge a commitment to
patients.
6. Only 43% vow to be accountable for their
actions.
7. 14% include a prohibition against euthanasia.
8. Only 11% invoke a diety.
9. 8% prohibit abortion.
10. Only 3% prohibit sexual contact with patients.
From - "The Use of the Hippocratic Oath: A
Review of 20th Century Practice and a Content Analysis
of Oaths Administered in Medical Schools in the U.S.
and Canada in 1993." by Robert D. Orr, M.D. and
Norman Pang, M.D.
|
|
One snake or two?
|
Caduceus
|
Staff of Aesculapius
|
I have long intended to address another
misconception about medicine — the idea that the
caduceus (with two snakes) is the symbol of medicine.
It is not. The true, original symbol of medicine is
the staff of Aesculapius (one snake). This topic has
been discussed elsewhere in great depth and I
encourage you to read further if I have piqued your
interest. One suggestion:
http://drblayney.com/Asclepius.html
—SFR
This article was downloaded from the Internet
at:
http://www.geocities.com/everwild7/noharm.html
|
|
