Hippocrates Influence On Medical Ethics

Hippocrates, son of Heraclides and Praxithea, was born in the fifth century BCE on the Aegean island Cos. He was granted a strong educational foundation based off his family’s wealth, and began to study and spend most of his time attempting to understand biology and the human body. He produced many ground-breaking theories which have no doubt influenced the modern medicinal procedures and scientific foundations that we use today. There is no doubt that Hippocrates was the ideal and most influential medical professional, as is evident through his consistent promotion of high moral standards in the medical field, the clinical and scrutinous procedures from his school of medicinal knowledge mimiced in modern hospitals, and his ability to separate …show more content…
However, he also stressed the importance of high ethical and moral standards in a physician, and such traits are necessary in all doctors in today’s societies. He focused on a physician using his best judgment to prescribe only beneficial treatments for his patients, to not cause any hurt or harm upon a patient and to live professionally, among other things11. These pledges taught by Hippocrates were later written down, possibly by one of his pupils, and was called the Hippocratic Oath. The oath was written by which the pupil would swear by Apollo, Asclepius and many other gods and goddesses to follow the ethical and moral code taught by Hippocrates, and should he break the code the gods would punish him. It has been translated and tweaked to fit into other society’s views upon medical practices, including those in our modern medical schools and hospitals12. While it is not required for a graduating medical student to take the oath, many ceremonies do have graduates pledge to a more modern version in which the student promises to respect the human lives being put into their hands13. When someone makes a moral decision they must be able to justify and explain the reasons behind what they did and why they did it. All aspects of ethics and ideals must be explored13. Because physicians and medical professionals around the world are imposed to practice and follow the same ethical and moral code as the code implied by Hippocrates in his school of medicine, it is clear that his teachings influenced the modern world on a philosophical scale as well as a physical and factual