A Hippocratic Oath for 2026

The Hippocratic Oath requires occasional revisions. The original oath, written between the fifth and third centuries BCE, is kind of amusing to read these days. In 1964, Louis Lasagna, who was then a Dean at Tufts, wrote an updated version of the Oath. Lasagna’s version has been widely adopted. Most American medical schools have their graduating students recite some sort of oath. About half currently use the Hippocratic oath, the rest use the Declaration of Geneva, the Oath of Maimonides, or a home-grown oath.

When I was writing my section of our opinion post on whether you can trust your doctor, I reread the oath and, not surprisingly, came away feeling that Dr. Lasagna’s 60-year-old oath needed an update. Of course, much of what it means to be a doctor does not change. Even the original Greek oath has sections that we would all feel are important:

Into whatsoever houses I enter, I will enter to help the sick, and I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm…

And whatsoever I shall see or hear in the course of my profession, as well as outside my profession in my intercourse with men, if it be what should not be published abroad, I will never divulge, holding such things to be holy secrets.

But so much of the field has changed. In 1964, we could not have imagined the treatments we employ, the information patients have access to, and the conflicts of interest in medicine today.

Here is a Hippocratic Oath for 2026. It is not a final version. I am hoping we can workshop it as Andrew Weir did with The Martian. Please suggest additions, subtractions, and rewrites. I’ll incorporate the suggestions and post something we can hope schools will adopt.

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I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:

I will apply the hard-won scientific gains of medicine for the benefit of the sick, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism. I will always consider the ultimate consequences of my actions and think in advance about how test results will change my management.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and empathy may outperform the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug. In addition to my extensive and hard-won medical expertise, common sense should never be discounted.

I will never be ashamed to say, “I know not”, nor will I fail to call in colleagues when the skills of another are needed. I will work with affiliated healthcare professionals, as they often have expertise that doctors lack.

I recognize that successful treatment often requires temporary harm. I will never cause harm without first having honest discussions with my patients.

I will remember that I always have more to offer a person in poor health than one who is healthy.

The medical decisions I make will be guided by my expertise and my patients’ values. I will rigorously appraise the information that supports my recommendations, whether it comes from articles, guidelines, or decision support tools. I will take responsibility for the consequences of my decisions.

I will respect the privacy of my patients. Their problems are disclosed to me only so that I may care for them.

I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a test result, or a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and finances. My responsibility includes treating the person as a whole. I will endeavor to treat all patients equally.

I shall never deprive my patients of hope, nor will I dispense false hope.

I accept that being a doctor requires sacrifice, including the effort and time to learn and stay abreast of current practice and the need to be available to my patients.

I will always act to preserve the finest traditions of my calling, and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.