Medical oaths less of a moral compass for physicians
Posted over 14 years ago by Stanley F Whittaker
Only 26% say the Hippocratic Oath strongly influences their practice of medicine.
By Kevin B. O'Reilly, amednews staff. Posted April 1, 2011.
Most physicians take part in a medical school oath ceremony, but few believe that the rite of passage has strongly shaped their sense of professionalism, according to an article published March 14 in Archives of Internal Medicine.
Nearly 80% of 1,032 practicing physicians surveyed in 2009 said they took part in a medical school oath ceremony using the original or modified version of the Hippocratic Oath, the Osteopathic Oath, the Prayer of Maimonides or the Declaration of Geneva. However, only 26% said the oath they took significantly influenced their practice of medicine or provided moral guidance in their medical careers (archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/extract/171/5/469).
"These data suggest that for most physicians, the taking of the oath is not a pivotal, meaningful, signal event, but just something that happens," said Farr A. Curlin, MD, co-author of the article. "Some people take it really seriously, and are looking to take it seriously. Others just see it as one more ritual that doesn't have much more significance than other things they do."