How did the tradition of taking the Hippocratic Oath originate among physicians?

What, in fact, is this oath, and should modern doctors keep it?

In the general sense, the Hippocratic oath is understood as the obligation of the novice Aesculapius to clearly follow the moral and ethical code. Hippocrates is an ancient Greek healer, physician and philosopher who went down in history as the “father of medicine” (460 BC – 370 BC).

Contrary to popular belief, he did not introduce the tradition of taking the medical oath. This already existed in ancient Egypt and appeared after the division of religion and medicine into two independent areas.

Hippocrates received the title of “father of medicine” not just like that, but quite deservedly. It was believed that he is a descendant of the god of medicine Asclepius. Hippocrates was the first to apply a unique technique in his work that has no analogues: to use a special technology depending on the patient’s belonging to one or another type of temperament: choleric, sanguine, melancholic, phlegmatic.

Taking into account the merits of the philosopher in medicine, the oath was named after him and began to be used in the future.

The European Aesculapius were the first to give it with the advent of the Enlightenment. The oath has come down to us thanks to the Hippocratic Corpus, a series of works that were partly created by the founder himself, partly by his descendants and followers.

For a long time, these works remained the main training manual for therapy and surgery. After the active popularization of European culture, they began to take the medical oath in other countries of the world.

Now it is given by young specialists who have received a medical degree in every state of our planet. There is no unified form: everywhere it is a different text, which depends on cultural, legislative features, mentality and other factors. Therefore, the “Hippocratic oath” is a colloquial, not a legal term.

In our country, the year of the introduction of this innovation was 1845. In fact, it was just a beautiful tradition that had no legal basis. Officially, the text was formulated and fixed in 1971. Subsequently, it was amended twice – in 1994 and 1999. In fact, the “Oath of the Doctor of Russia” (as the oath is officially called) has nothing to do with the “father of medicine”.