Hippocrates was a Greek philosopher and physician who lived from 460 to 377 BC. He is known as the "father of modern medicine".1 His work included the Hippocratic Oath which described the basic ethics of medical practice and laid down a moral code of conduct for doctors. The classical Hippocratic Oath has been translated and interpreted.2 However, modern versions have also been proposed, using many of the basic principles of the original. Many people think that doctors still swear the Hippocratic Oath. It is not compulsory but in fact many medical schools now hold a ceremony where graduating doctors do swear an updated version. The British Medical Association (BMA) drafted a new Hippocratic Oath for consideration by the World Medical Association in 1997 but it was not accepted and there is still no one single modern accepted version.3 In some medical schools the Declaration of Geneva physician's oath is used.4 In others an oath individualised by the institution is used.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original article at https://patient.info/doctor/ideals-and-the-hippocratic-oath