THE EVOLUTION OF THE OATH
I
swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods
and goddesses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and
judgment this oath and this covenant:
To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership
with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring
as equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art—if they desire to learn
it—without fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other
learning to my sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have
signed the covenant and have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.
I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment;
I will keep them from harm and injustice.
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to
this effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will
guard my life and my art.
I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such
men as are engaged in this work.
Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentional injustice, of all
mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male persons, be they free or slaves.
What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to the life of men,
which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such things shameful to be spoken about.
If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being honored with fame among all
men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot.
PHYSICIAN’S OATH - UT SOUTHWESTERN
I pledge the following as an expression of the spirit in which I will strive to
practice medicine:
• To promote health and to relieve suffering in both the living and the dying.
• To approach all my patients with integrity, candor, empathy, and respect.
• To honor the confidences entrusted in me.
• To be a student and teacher always, and to remain conscious of my
limitations.
• To place the welfare of the patients above personal gain, and to protect
patients from improper care.
• To respond always in an emergency.
• To improve health care for the underserved, and to work to change those
conditions in society that threaten the health of the community.
• To withdraw from active practice when I am no longer capable of fulfilling
these pledges.
• To keep the promise of Hippocrates: “Above all, do no harm.”
I make these pledges solemnly, freely, and upon my honor.
4 Dallas Medical Journal June 2019
HIPPOCRATIC OATH - CLASSICAL VERSION
Translation from Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by
Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.