Hippocratic Oath: Classical Version
I swear by Apollo Physician and Asclepius and Hygieia and Panaceia and all the gods and goddes-
ses, making them my witnesses, that I will fulfill according to my ability and judgment this oath
and this covenant:
To hold him who has taught me this art as equal to my parents and to live my life in partnership
with him, and if he is in need of money to give him a share of mine, and to regard his offspring as
equal to my brothers in male lineage and to teach them this art—if they desire to learn it—without
fee and covenant; to give a share of precepts and oral instruction and all the other learning to my
sons and to the sons of him who has instructed me and to pupils who have signed the covenant and
have taken an oath according to the medical law, but no one else.
I will apply dietetic measures for the benefit of the sick according to my ability and judgment; I
will keep them from harm and injustice.
I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody who asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this
effect. Similarly I will not give to a woman an abortive remedy. In purity and holiness I will guard
my life and my art.
I will not use the knife, not even on sufferers from stone, but will withdraw in favor of such men as
are engaged in this work.
Whatever houses I may visit, I will come for the benefit of the sick, remaining free of all intentio-
nal injustice, of all mischief and in particular of sexual relations with both female and male per-
sons, be they free or slaves.
What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment or even outside of the treatment in regard to
the life of men, which on no account one must spread abroad, I will keep to myself, holding such
things shameful to be spoken about.
If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art, being ho-
nored with fame among all men for all time to come; if I transgress it and swear falsely, may the
opposite of all this be my lot.
Translation from the Greek by Ludwig Edelstein. From The Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation,
and Interpretation, by Ludwig Edelstein. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.
Hippocratic Oath: Modern Version
I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
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 un-
derstanding 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 responsibili-
ty 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, who-
se 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 af-
fection 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.
Written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Academic Dean of the School of Medicine at Tufts University,
and used in many medical schools today.