Medical/clinical ethics

Medical ethics are the principles that govern the conduct of medical professionals, and their interactions with patients and others in the medical field.

You might have heard of the ‘Hippocratic oath’, which is a pledge (or promise) that physicians have traditionally taken at the start of their medical career to uphold high ethical standards in their practice. The oath dates to Classical Greece, to the time of Hippocrates (c. 460–370 BCE), a Greek physician, who is traditionally referred to as the ‘Father of Medicine’ and is credited with coining the Hippocratic oath.

Because language and medical practice has changed, medical schools in many countries no longer use the Hippocratic oath; instead, they use their own, modern version, or alternatively the Declaration of Geneva (sometimes called ‘the modern Hippocratic oath’). The Declaration of Geneva, adopted by the World Medical Association (WMA) in 1948, builds on the principles of the original Hippocratic oath and reflects the ethical and moral decision-making in the modern era (Parsa-Parsi, 2017).

The Declaration of Geneva should be read in parallel with ethical guidelines such as the International Code of Medical Ethics. The two documents together provide ethical guidance on how physicians should interact with their patients. For example, the Declaration of Geneva includes the pledge that ‘the health and wellbeing of my patient will be my first consideration’, while the International Code of Medical Ethics declares that ‘a physician shall act only in the patient’s interest when providing medical care which might have the effect of weakening the physical and mental condition of the patient’.

While the Hippocratic oath and the Declaration of Geneva are not legally binding, most countries have a medical licensing authority (such as the General Medical Council in the UK) that regulates doctors according to the principles derived from the oath and/or the declaration. Similar bodies also exist for veterinarians. Practitioners found to be in breach of the principles may have their licence revoked and would be prevented from working as a doctor or veterinarian.

(If you’re interested in these topics, you can read more about the Hippocratic oath (NLM, 2002), the Declaration of Geneva (WMA, 2018a) and the International Code of Medical Ethics (WMA, 2018b).)