Entry Fifteen

My assignment this week for Intro to Clinical Medicine was to write my own version of the Hippocratic Oath that I want to follow in my practice and profession as a physician.  There are parts of it that were really straightforward/obvious and parts that were more difficult to tease through.  Here's what I finally came up with (points in no particular order):

*I will not do anything to cause my patients undo harm and exercise conservative judgment when suggesting treatments that could be harmful to the patient.

*I will strive to understand my limitations as a practicing physician or student and only operate within my abilities, referring to others when my knowledge or skills are inadequate to serve the patient’s needs.

*I will protect all the information that I acquire about my patients and any information they volunteer to me even after they have deceased.

*I will treat every patient with the best of my professional ability and not withhold any treatments on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, etc.

*I will strive to remember that I do not treat a wound or a sickness, but I treat a sick human being whose sickness can have broad-ranged effects on economic stability, family members, etc.   I will be aware of surrounding issues and carefully consider these related issues as well as the sickness itself.

*I will always seek to improve my patients’ quality of life through caring for their health and preventing disease before it happens whenever possible.

*I will respect the wishes of my patients with regards to their healthcare and allow them to define for themselves what health goals will most readily allow them to experience an acceptable quality life.

*I will inform my patients to the best of my ability about their health status, risk factors, and empower them to make beneficial decisions regarding their healthcare and general welfare.

*I will not knowingly withhold relevant information from my patients about their health status, health risks, or other related information.

*I will respect and honor all of the physicians and scientists that have studied, practiced, and spent time teaching me to be a physician and subsequently pass on my knowledge and skills to the generation of new doctors who will follow me.

And suddenly the responsibility of what I'm training to do feels very heavy :-)