SOLEMN OATH OF A PHYSICIAN OF RUSSIA

1992

Approved by the Minister of Health and the Minister of Higher Education of the Russian Federation, this oath, which replaces the preceding Oath of Soviet Physicians, was first published in 1992. It is interesting to note the similarities between the new Russian oath and the Hippocratic Oath, indicating a conscious return to the Hippocratic tradition. While the Soviet oath bound physicians to the principles of communist morality and explicitly recognized their duty to the people and the Soviet state, the new oath focuses on the well-being of the individual patient.

In the presence of my Teachers and colleagues in the great science of doctoring, accepting with deep gratitude the rights of a physician granted to me

I SOLEMNLY PROMISE:

• to regard him who has taught me the art of doctoring as equal to my parents and to help him in his affairs and if he is in need;
• to impart any precepts, oral instruction, and all other learning to my pupils who are bound by the obligation of medical law but to no one else;
• I will conduct my life and my art purely and chastely, being charitable and not causing people harm;
• I will never deny medical assistance to anyone and will render it with equal diligence and patience to a patient of any means, nationality, religion, and conviction;
• no matter what house I may enter, I will go there for the benefit of the patient, remaining free of all intentional injustice and mischief, especially sexual relations;
• to prescribe dietetic measures and medical treatment for the patient's benefit according to my abilities and judgment, refraining from causing them any harm or injustice;
• I will never use my knowledge and skill to the detriment of anyone's health, even my enemy's;
• I will never give anyone a fatal drug if asked nor show ways to carry out such intentions;
• whatever I may see and hear during treatment or outside of treatment concerning a person's life, which should not be divulged, I will keep to myself, regarding such matters as secret;
• I promise to continue my study of the art of doctoring and do everything in my power to promote its advancement, reporting all my discoveries to the scientific world;
• I promise not to engage in the manufacture or sale of secret remedies;
• I promise to be just to my fellow doctors and not to insult their persons; however, if it is required for the benefit of a patient, I will speak the truth openly and impartially;
• in important cases I promise to seek the advice of doctors who are more versed and experienced than I; when I myself am summoned for consultation, I will acknowledge their merit and efforts according to my conscience.

If I fulfill this Oath without violating it, let me be given happiness in my life and art. If I transgress it and give a false Oath, let the opposite be my lot.