Revista médica de Chile
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The impact of Hippocratic Oath on medical practice is universally recognized. However, some physicians raise questions about its validity and few medical schools use it in graduation ceremonies. It is postulated that this oath does not harmonize with present bioethical concepts and that the principles of beneficence, lack of harm, autonomy and justice, elaborated by Anglo-Saxon philosophers, would do so. ⋯ Modified versions of the oath or original texts presumptuously pretend to replace a document that has lasted 2500 years and that meant a revolution, not only to medicine, but for all mankind. Students should have the opportunity to analyze its content and the way its values are related to concrete situations of present medical practice. Medical schools should shelter it without objections, as the expression of a reflexive compromise acquired by physicians during their studies and to be applied in medical practice.