HIPPOCRATIC OATH

ethical code attributed to the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, adopted as a guide to conduct by the medical profession throughout the ages and still used in the graduation ceremonies of many medical schools. Although little is known of the life of Hippocrates-or, indeed, if he was the only practitioner of the time using this name-a body of manuscripts, called the Hippocratic Collection (Corpus Hippocraticum), survived until modern times. In addition to containing information on medical matters, the collection embodied a code of principles for the teachers of medicine and for their students. This code, or a fragment of it, has been handed down in various versions through generations of physicians as the Hippocratic oath. The text of the oath itself is divided into two major sections. The first sets out the obligations of the physician to students of medicine and the duties of pupil to teacher. In the second section the physician pledges to prescribe only beneficial treatments, according to his abilities and judgment; to refrain from causing harm or hurt; and to live an exemplary personal and professional life.