The Hippocratic Oath in medical training
From health science to ars medica’s return
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24310/nyl.20.2026.22212Keywords:
Hippocratic oath, medical ethics, ethical dilemmas, patient dignity, medical traditionAbstract
This article examines the relevance of the Hippocratic Oath in contemporary medical education and practice, highlighting its role as the ethical core underpinning the doctor-patient relationship. It analyses its historical evolution, philosophical and religious interpretations, as well as the challenges posed by ethical fragmentation in medicine today, especially in secularised and pluralistic contexts. It argues for the need to update the oath to reflect a unified commitment to essential principles such as life, dignity and non-maleficence, fostering comprehensive and deliberative moral formation. Finally, the text argues that recovering a common and coherent ethic is key to strengthening social trust, preserving medical humanism and facing the ethical dilemmas of the 21st century, on the basis of a solid morality inspired by the Christian tradition and respect for human dignity.
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References
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Kudlien, F. (1970). “Medical education in classical antiquity”. In C. D. O’Malley (Ed.), The history of medical education (pp. 3–37). University of California Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/jj.2430662.4
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Carey, E. J. “The formal use of the Hippocratic oath for medical students al com-mencement exercises”. Bulletin of the Association of American Medical Colleges 3(2): p 159-166, April 1928. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/00001888-192804000-00008
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