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Hippocratic Oath
The Hippocratic Oath is an ancient Greek pledge of medical ethics, attributed to Hippocrates.
Summary
- It is about 2,400 years old.
- Doctors in the UK are not required to take it.
- Many medical schools hold a ceremony with a modern declaration, often based on the Declaration of Geneva of 1948.
- The phrase first do no harm is linked with it but does not appear in the original text.
Interview questions
- Should new doctors have to swear an oath?
- Which parts of an ancient oath still apply to medicine today?
- What would you put in a modern version?
Practise answering these with a mentor
Our interview preparation has you answer questions like these out loud, with feedback on each answer.
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More NHS hot topics, medical ethics case studies and medical school interview questions are in AlphaMED Resources, which we add to and update through the application cycle.