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 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.

  • theneverfox@pawb.socialEnglish
    2·
    12 minutes ago

    Honestly, I doubt it, they’re incredibly beholden to the insurance companies themselves. Plus medical malpractice insurance, which they can lose if they break the terms and breaks their protection for every patient they’ve ever treated

    Private practice was also gutted by the Obamacare hand outs to the insurance companies. They literally spend more time dealing with insurance requirements than actually seeing the patients. So on top of all that, they’re also restricted by the healthcare groups that employ the majority of them

    They know the system is broken. The really conservative ones think it’s simply how it has to be, but honestly they’re also put through a ridiculous system themselves to even get a license to practice, let alone keep it.

    The main exception is the doctors who work for the insurance companies. They’re essentially forced to break their oath just to keep their job, I don’t know how they live with themselves