On this page each month I will post a new discussion starter, a picture, a poem, a quote or saying which holds much meaning for me. Then I will kick off the dialogue with my take on the subject. I encourage everyone to voice her reaction. I look forward to reading your comments!
~ Dr. Terri Vanderlinde
My opinion on the Hippocratic Oath:
I think that this version is more understandable and more applicable than the original one written thousands of years ago. But they both have the same underlying message, that a doctor should always be pure of heart and mind when caring for patients. That she will suggest only options that support their best interest. And that she has a will sacrifice what is necessary to care for others’ health and well-being. This is the code by which I practice medicine. Please let me know if you believe that I ever deviate from this path. Thank you. Dr. Terri Vanderlinde.
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Hippocratic Oath: I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow. I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism. I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon's knife or the chemist's drug. I will not be ashamed to say "I know not," nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient's recovery. I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know. Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God. I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person's family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick. I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure. I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm. If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter. May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help. |
Upon graduation, many medical students take a modern version of the oath written by Louis Lasagna in 1964. |
