The Osteopathic Oath is an oath commonly administered to

osteopathic physicians Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO or D.O., or in Australia DO USA) is a medical degree conferred by the 38 osteopathic medical schools in the United States. DO and Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees are equivalent: a DO graduate may become licen ...

who practice

osteopathic medicine Osteopathy () is a type of alternative medicine that emphasizes physical manipulation of the body's muscle tissue and bones. Practitioners of osteopathy are referred to as osteopaths. Osteopathic manipulation is the core set of techniques in ...

in the United States. Similar to the

Hippocratic Oath The Hippocratic Oath is an oath of ethics historically taken by physicians. It is one of the most widely known of Greek medical texts. In its original form, it requires a new physician to swear, by a number of healing gods, to uphold specific e ...

, it is a statement of professional values and

ethics Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that "involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong behavior".''Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy'' The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concerns m ...

. The first version of the oath was created in 1938, and the current version of the oath has been in use since 1954. Although taking the oath is not required or legally binding, it is commonly seen as a

rite of passage A rite of passage is a ceremony or ritual of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society. In cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of ''rite ...

History

The Oath was first developed in 1938 by a committee formed by the Associated Colleges of Osteopathy, headed by Frank E. MacCracken, DO. In 1954, some amendments were adopted to create the current text.

Use

In the United States, all osteopathic medical schools administer the Osteopathic Oath, often in the context of a

white coat ceremony The white coat ceremony (WCC) is a ritual in some schools of medicine and other health-related fields that marks the student's transition from the study of preclinical to clinical health sciences. At some schools, where students begin meeting pat ...

. The Oath upholds the concepts of

confidentiality Confidentiality involves a set of rules or a promise usually executed through confidentiality agreements that limits the access or places restrictions on certain types of information. Legal confidentiality By law, lawyers are often required ...

evidence-based medicine Evidence-based medicine (EBM) is "the conscientious, explicit and judicious use of current best evidence in making decisions about the care of individual patients". The aim of EBM is to integrate the experience of the clinician, the values of t ...

, and nonmaleficence. It also specifically forbids

euthanasia Euthanasia (from el, εὐθανασία 'good death': εὖ, ''eu'' 'well, good' + θάνατος, ''thanatos'' 'death') is the practice of intentionally ending life to eliminate pain and suffering. Different countries have different eut ...

but does not address

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

. In a 2000 survey of United States medical schools, all of the then extant medical schools administered some type of professional oath. Among

allopathic Allopathic medicine, or allopathy, is an archaic term used to define science-based modern medicine. Citing: ''Gale Encyclopedia of Medicine'' (2008) and ''Mosby's Medical Dictionary'', 8th ed. (2009). There are regional variations in usage of th ...

schools, sixty-two of one hundred twenty-two used the Hippocratic Oath or a modified version of it. The other sixty schools used the original or modified

Declaration of Geneva The Declaration of Geneva was adopted by the General Assembly of the World Medical Association at Geneva in 1948, amended in 1968, 1983, 1994, editorially revised in 2005 and 2006 and amended in 2017. It is a declaration of a physician's dedicati ...

Oath of Maimonides The Oath of Maimonides is a traditional oath for pharmacists and physicians attributed to Maimonides. It is not to be confused with the more lengthy Prayer of Maimonides. It is widely used as the traditional oath taken by pharmacists, analogous to ...

, or an oath authored by students and or faculty. All nineteen osteopathic schools used the Osteopathic Oath. Like the Hippocratic Oath and similar professional oaths, the Osteopathic Oath is not legally binding, nor is it required in order to become a practicing physician. However, reciting the Oath is considered an important rite of passage for a new osteopathic physician.

Text

References

{{Reflist Oaths of medicine Osteopathic medicine

History

Use

Text

See also

References