Relevance of the Hippocratic Oath in the 21st Century

Paper by Reva Trivedi

The Hippocratic oath is one of the most prevalent Greek medical documents in the world today.
Named after the famous Greek medical figure, Hippocrates, it highlights the ethical responsibilities and
duties that every physician should feel obligated to fulfill. Although many people now perceive this
document to be outdated, many graduating medical students still take an oath, which contains plenty of
ideas derived from the original Hippocratic oath. The Hippocratic oath holds significant relevance in the
21st century and serves to effectively highlight all the responsibilities and obligations a physician is to
fulfill. It teaches physicians about the importance of determination, respect, and confidentiality, among
other things.
One of the initial ideas that the Hippocratic oath proposes is the concept of determination to help
the patient. According to the oath, it is essential for a physician to “apply dietic measures for the benefit
of the sick according to [their] ability and judgement; [and to] keep them from harm and injustice”
(Hippocrates). This thought should not be perceived as a surprising one but as a vital one. Every
physician should be aware of their responsibility to ensure that every one of their actions is going to be in
the patient’s best interest. A patient approaches a physician in a time of need and vulnerability, and it is
essential that the physician is aware that any course of action that is not carefully deliberated upon can be
very harmful to the patient that is being treated. This is a very consistent moral concept for physicians,
that has remained unchanged especially in today’s changing society. 
Another prominent idea presented in this oath is the importance of respecting your mentors, as
well as other fellow doctors. The Hippocratic oath calls for physicians “[t]o hold him who has taught
[them] this art as equal to [their] parents” (Hippocrates). The oath also declares that physicians “will not
use the knife . . . but will withdraw in favour of such men as are engaged in this work” (Hippocrates).
This reveals how physicians are to value and respect not only their teachers and mentors but also other
physicians who might be more knowledgeable than they are in a certain area. Doctors should not be afraid
to seek help in a time of unsurety. A prideful doctor would not have been adequate to treat a patient in
Hippocrates’ time and it certainly is not now.
Finally, one of the last ideas discussed in the oath is the significance of confidentiality. The
Hippocratic oath specifically states that whatever physicians “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, [they] will keep to [them]self” (Hippocrates). Even between 400 BCE and 300 BCE,
which is around the time this oath is thought to be written, a clear concept of confidentiality had already
been established. Doctors are bound by the law to keep medical records private, in the hopes that this
encourages patients to be more honest so that doctors are able to provide healthcare as efficiently as
possible. In fact, rights to patient confidentiality are put in place all over the world to protect patients’
medical records from being disclosed. An idea once presented by Hippocrates in a document more than a
thousand years ago, can now be seen in practice all over the world.
In conclusion, the Hippocratic oath holds a tremendous amount of relevance in the world today
by showing how important determination, respect and confidentiality have always been in medicine.
Many medical institutions may not require students to take the Hippocratic oath anymore, but other
alternative oaths that have risen to popularity instead, still portray the central ideas of the Hippocratic oath
and put them in practice today. 
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