"I will protect the dignity of a doctor and I will not stain it with anything" - these are the words spoken today by young adepts of medical academies when receiving doctors' diplomas. The vow they make is commonly called the Hippocratic Oath. But the ancient Greek physician really has little to do with his authorship.
The Hippocratic Oathshows that a lot has always been expected of doctors; not only the correct diagnosis, but also good character, appropriate dress, behavior, etc. Was the famous Greek doctor really its creator? There are doubts about that. In 1955, the researcher of ancient Egyptian medicine, Naguib Riad, discovered that the text attributed to Hippocrates is much older - about 3,000 years old and originally from Egypt.
Hippocratic Oath: I will not give you any lethal medicine
In ancient Greece, medicine could be practiced by anyone who felt prepared for it. There were medical schools in which young adepts of this art, focused around the master, stayed with him also after completing their studies, to gain experience. In many schools, at the end of education, an oath attributed to Hippocrates was taken, beginning with the words: "I swear by Apollo and Asclepius and Hygea and Panakea and all gods and goddesses I take as witnesses that I will fulfill the oath according to my abilities and reason."
Why were these four deities mentioned in the oath? Hygiene is taken from it) and Panakea, who cures everything, is the daughters of Asclepius. also about the obligation to share your income with him. . Here is the appropriate passage: "(…) I will never give a lethal drug to anyone, neither on demand nor at anyone's request, nor will I myself conceive of such an intention, nor will I give any woman a miscarriage".
Hippocratic Oath: away from lust
Some parts of the oath sound almost unbelievable to useven this one: "(…) I will not make a cut in a patient with a stone, I will leave it to the husbands who do this craft." These husbands are the profession of barbers, which does not exist today. the use of a knife in therapy.
The oath continues with the order of sexual abstinence towards patients: "I will enter anyone's house, I want to enter only for the sake of the sick, away from any lust for both women and men." Another part of it concerns the duty of keeping medical secrecy.
The oath is not the only text on medical ethics attributed to Hippocrates. There are also commandments that list the qualities that every doctor should have: selflessness, forbearance, modesty, and neatness. The physician should be attentive, make quick decisions, be brief, and never start the conversation with the patient on the matter of compensation. In Arab countries, although the Hippocratic Oath was known, there was a completely different approach to financial matters. One of the doctors in the 10th century recommended: "demand fees when the disease is at its peak, because after recovery, the patient will certainly forget what the doctor did for him".
In Poland, the earliest known to us The oath comes from the Krakow Academy - in the 15th century it was taken by bachelor's applying for a medical doctor degree. .
In the 18th century, the "golden age of the medical profession", when practitioners were famous and we althy, some of them published dissertations on medical ethics, showing concern over envy and controversy within the community. But with new philosophical currents, new social and political relations that appeared in the 19th century, it was necessary to formulate more detailed ethical norms for doctors.
The text of the "Medical Pledge", which is still being submitted today, dates from 1918:
Respecting with reverence and deep gratitude the doctor's degree granted to me and understanding the full importance of the duties related to it, I promise and vow that throughout my life I will fulfill all the obligations imposed by law, respect the dignity of a doctor and will not defile it with anything to the best of my knowledge, I will help the suffering who turn to me for help, with their own good in mind, that I will not abuse their trust and that I will keep secret everything that I learn in connection with performing
I swear and vow further that I will always treat my fellow doctors with friendly friendliness, but impartially, having the good of the patients entrusted to me first and foremost.
I promise and finally vow that I will be constantly improved in medical sciences and with all my strength tried to contribute to their flourishing and that I will always announce to the scientific world everything that I can invent or improve.
Hippocratic Oath: first of all the good of the sick
Although the general criteria were still determined by the Hippocratic Oath, a new science appeared, called deontology (from the Greek "deon" - obligation), which de alt with the answer to the questions of how to implement these norms in medical practice. all the more necessary that the financial situation of doctors was not as good as in previous centuries. Many of them lived in poverty. There were even strikes, such as in 1899 in Krakow.
The first deontological code, i.e. a collection The rules regulating the professional life of doctors was the Percival Code, created in England in 1803. Soon, similar codes were created in other countries. Their content was consistent with the maxim "salus aegroti suprema lex medicorum est" - the well-being of the patient is the highest duty of the doctor.
In the 19th century, 55 first medical societies and medical chambers were established. They control doctors who are unfaithful to ethics - so far, in this matter, only the conscience of doctors was counted on. The "promise of faculties", which was placed on the back of the diplomas issued by the Medical University of Warsaw and the Warsaw School of Economics, was based on the existing, elementary standards. The novelty was the prohibition of preparing … secret means, so as not to win patients by this dishonest way.