Oldest Fragment of the Hippocratic Oath
“I do solemnly swear by that which I hold most sacred:”
This fall I will attend my 50th Medical School Graduation Reunion. I was able to retrieve the Aequanimitas 1967 yearbook and the graduation program. Central to that graduation ceremony was the Hippocratic Oath that was printed on the inside cover of the program.
The context of the oath begins by the swearing “by that which I hold most sacred” and goes on to describe our behaviors in relationship to patients and colleagues. How should we understand that oath today and how it was applied in our professional lives in the last 50 years?
There are overarching descriptions that could be used to describe the changes in medicine during this era: Moving from art to technology; from compassion to contract; and from sacred to secular. The oath itself has changed as well as its use. What I believe is central to healing is the idea of covenant as the first line is sometimes translated . The covenant between individuals is sworn before God as an oath and that makes it much more than a contract. That sacred context has been the missing ingredient for many in the healing professions, but there are exceptions as reported in this blog.
In anticipation of the reunion, I am looking forward to hearing the stories of healing that began by taking that covenant oath 50 years ago.
Marvin
References:
First line of The Hippocratic Oath as printed in the 1967 Class Day Ceremony and Honors Convocation
Hage, M. L. (2011). Healing Agent Education.
Hage, M. L. (2014). Healing Ebola.
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