According to the survey results, nearly 80 percent of participating physicians took part in a medical school oath ceremony using the original or modified version of the Hippocratic Oath, Osteopathic Oath, Prayer of Maimonides or Declaration of Geneva. Despite this participation, only 26 percent said the oath they took strongly influenced their practice of medicine or provided moral guidance in their medical careers.
Physicians who cited religion as important in their lives were more likely to find the oath meaningful than less-religious physicians, according to the report. Instead of relying on the oath to provide moral guidance, 90 percent of physicians said their “personal sense of wrong and right” helped them make decisions. Twenty-eight percent said religious faith was a guiding force, and 16 percent noted the American Medical Association Code of Ethics.
Read the article published in the Archives of Internal Medicine on physician oaths.
Read more survey results:
–Survey Suggests Greater Need for Dialogue Between Physicians and GERD Patients
–Survey: 41% of Consumers Lake Confidence in the Accuracy of Their Medical Bills
