Few oaths now mention a deity, most avoid the abortion issue, and many omit the prohibition of sexual contact with patients although this lapse by physicians is condemned by licensing authorities. There are now many versions used- some schools have allowed students to write their own. Since the Second World War the Oath has reflected the Declaration of Geneva and the Nuremburg Code 1948. The behaviour of physicians under Nazi Germany showed that the profession cannot always be trusted to place the well being of the sick ahead of self interest. More recently the pursuit of research has sometimes been put ahead of the benefit to the patient and again codes of ethics for research have been developed.
Life is short, art is long, opportunity fleeting, experiment dangerous, judgement difficult.
The art has three factors, the disease, the patient and the doctor. The doctor is the servant of the art. The patient must co-operate the doctor in combating the disease. Hippocrates in the books Law 2 and Physician 1 describes how the doctor must possess natural ability, be industrious and be well taught. The physician should be healthy, clean and well-dressed using suitable perfumes, keep his silence, and be grave and kind to all.