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Hippocratic Oath and current medical oaths

Publication at Faculty of Arts |
2022

Abstract

The so-called Hippocratic Oath is based on a standardized form of oath in the ancient world and is undoubtedly the most famous, most discussed and most commented part of the Corpus Hippocraticum, collection of medical writings whose authorship is traditionally attributed to the legendary physician Hippocrates. The study at first introduces the nature of this brief text and the various theories about the origin of the Oath, as well as the evidence for its earliest use.

The second part of the study focuses on the history of medical oaths in Czechoslovakia since 1918, especially on the changes in the text of the oaths after 1948 (mainly on the basis of so far unpublished documents from the archives), and presents the form of current medical oaths in the Czech Republic, with reference to the formulations of the Hippocratic Oath itself; an overview table lists both the Czech and Latin versions of the current medical oaths.