Evening Republican, Volume 15, Number 123, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 May 1911 — OATH TAKEN BY PHYSICIANS [ARTICLE]

OATH TAKEN BY PHYSICIANS

Doctors Swear by Hippocrates, Styled Through the Ages as the “Father of Medicine.” Hippocrates, styled through the ages the “Father of Medicine," was born on the Isle of Cos about 470 B. C.» and living over ninety years, he was the contemporary of Pericles, Socrates, Zenophon, Plato, Herodotus, Thucydides, Phidias, and many other illustrious men. Himself a descendant of Asclepios, he studied medicine under Gorgias and Democritus and also under that Herodicus who first taught that systematic exercise was a cure for many ailments. . The oath of Hippocrates, long the pattern of a physician’s obligation, ran as follows: “I swear by Apollo, the physician, and Asclepios, and I call 'Hygeia and Panaceia and all the gods to witness, that to the best of my power and judgment the solemn vow which I now make I will honor as my father the master who taught me the art of medicine; his children I will consider as my brothers, and teach them my profession without fee or reward. I will admit to my lectures and discourses my own tons, my master’s sons, and those pupils who have taken the medical oath, but no one else. I will prescribe such medicines as may be the best suited to the cases of my patients, according to the best of my knowledge, and no temptation shall ever Induce me to administer poison. I will religiously maintain the purity of my character and the honor of my art, Into whatever house I enter, I will enter It With the sole view of relieving the sick and conduct myself with propriety toward all the members of the family. If during my attendance I hear anything that should not be revealed I will keep It a profound secret. If I observe this oath may I have succeees In this life, and may I obtain general esteem after ft; If I break It, may the contrary be my lot —“Doctors and Surgeons,” by Charles Winslow Hall in National Magazine.