MoralActionandProfessionalism

August 2025 [16]

Read Before You Sign

The Hippocratic Corpus is a multivolume collection of medical material assemble from the 5th through 3rd BCE centuries at a center on the island of Kos, off the coast of Turkey.

One of its pages bears the title Hippocratic Oath. This is arguably among the “most quoted but never read” pieces even written

To begin with, “first do no harm” is nowhere in the Oath A good translation of the relevant text is "I will follow that system of regimen which, according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patients and abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous." The focus is on relieving patients’ fears and suffering. The example that follows immediately is, “I will not administer poison.” The Oath was never about risk management. The familiar primum non nocere is Latin and probably the construction of late Middle Ages lawyers.

Examples that are mentioned as outside the approved practice of Hippocratic medicine include abortion and surgery Abortion by prescription is specifically forbidden as is all surgical treatment. The specific example in theOath states: “I will not use the knife, not even, verily, on sufferers from stone, but I will giveplace to such as are craftsmen therein.” Hippocrates might have considered Painless Parker as a skilled tooth puller, but he would nothave recognized dentists as belonging to themedical profession.

Immediately following the appeal for witness “by Apollo Healer, by Asclepius, by Hygieia, by Panacea, and by all the gods and goddesses” there is a clear and firm positive requirement. “Ipromiseto holdmy teacher in this art equal to my own parents; to make him partner in my livelihood; when he is in need of money to share mine with him.” In modern terms this might mean being active in the profession as one’s circumstances permit and supporting one’s dental school. The ADA Code of Professional Conduct recognizes an ethical obligation to “make the results and benefits of their investigative efforts available to all ” (3 C) The Hippocratic Oath goes even further. Charging honoraria for CE presentations would be unethical. “I will teach those [who take the Oath] this art, if they want to learn it, without fee or indenture; to impart precept, oral instruction, and all other instruction.”

The Goodies: wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic Oath “EBP / Shared Decision Making” 11 September Webinar (see attached)

This is not a blog. It is a personal invitation to exchange ideas to build dentistry as a moral community. Email: dchamber@pacific.edu