THE OATH OF HIPPOCRATES
Photo by: UT Southwestern
2 Dallas Medical Journal June 2019
OOne of the oldest documents in history
is the Oath of Hippocrates, which still
symbolizes the sacred promise of
physicians to treat the sick and suffering
with the highest ethical standards.
Written in Greek more than 2,500
years ago, the classical version has the
physician swear by all the gods and
goddesses and, although outdated,
is still used by some medical schools.
Most schools use some modern version
called the Physician’s Oath which still
reflects the time-honored traditions of
medicine. It is interesting to compare the
UT Southwestern Physician’s Oath with
an English translation of the Hippocratic
Oath on the next page.
A longstanding tradition at
Southwestern Medical School is for
the President of the school to invite the
President of the Dallas County Medical
Society (DCMS) to administer the Oath
as part of the graduation ceremony. In
the early years of Southwestern, there
is no record of a Physician’s Oath being
administered. Instead, the Southwestern
wartime classes of 1944–1946 were
given oaths of commission to the Army
or Navy. As Southwestern emerged
from World War II, the Physician’s
Oath became a graduation ceremony
tradition and was usually administered
by a respected faculty member. John
Chapman, Assistant Dean for Medical
Education, gave the oath from 1953–
1970. Charles Sprague, as first President
of Southwestern Medical School (1971–
1986), gets credit for starting the tradition
of inviting the DCMS President to give the
Oath and creating this enduring tie with
President’s Page
Kevin W. Klein, MD
DCMS President