what oath do doctors take

The Hippocratic Oath is one of the oldest documents in history, written in the 5th century B.C. . However, despite its age, it is still relevant today, and most physicians take some form of oath upon graduation from medical school. While some medical schools ask their graduates to abide by the Hippocratic Oath, others use a different pledge or none at all. The original oath swears by Apollo and other Greek gods of medicine, but many of todays oaths swear by "whatever each of us holds most sacred," or they simply begin with a promise to uphold medical principles. The modern version of the Hippocratic Oath, attributed to Dr. Louis Lasagna in 1948, is one of the most widely used versions of the oath. The oath emphasizes the importance of respecting the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps one walks, applying all measures required for the benefit of the sick, avoiding overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism, and remembering that there is art to medicine as well as science. The oath also stresses the importance of respecting the privacy of patients and treading with care in matters of life and death.