Reporter’s Notebook: On National Doctor’s Day, a Look at the New Hippocratic Oath

April 2, 2018

(ABC News) – This spring, nearly 20,000 medical students will graduate from medical schools across the country and will likely be asked to raise their hands for a new kind of Hippocratic Oath, one that now emphasizes a patient’s right to choose their own destiny.  The Hippocratic oath is a 2,500-year-old pledge doctors take outlining the professional duties and ethical principles the profession holds sacred. The first modern version of the Hippocratic oath was adopted in 1948. The version released in November by the World Medical Association in Chicago took two years to finalize and is the ancient text’s first ever major update. A new name was proposed as well: “The Physician’s Pledge.”