Hippocratic Medicine Essay

Introduction

A lot of research has been carried out about Hippocratic medicine since the 19th century and over 60 essays, referred to as Hippocratic corpus have been gathered. Some of them such as the Hippocratic oath is based on real memories and others are deduced from famous case studies of health outbreaks. All the essays describe a healthy environment by waters, places or airs. Also, some articles like the regimen of health consist of documented instructions from a real patient, while others are recorded methods of prognosis to help doctors identify the illness. Hippocratic medicine was based on a Greek philosophy of the 19th century that used careful observation, logical abstraction, careful experimentation, and organized record keeping to enhance medicine (Hippocrates: The "Greek Miracle" in Medicine, 2018). Hippocrates was cautious and reserved about their methods, and they often used the axiom, "The art is long; life is short; the occasion fleeting; experience fallacious, and judgment difficult.' (Hippocrates: The "Greek Miracle" in Medicine, 2018). Besides, they doubted any other form of medicine practiced at that time including the faith healers and the witchdoctors. Most people may think that the ideas of Hippocratic system are an outdated but some of them, especially the Hippocratic oath make sense to me and I think it is still a relevant point in the 21st century.

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At face value, the idea that a traditional medical system dating to the 19th century could be relevant to today's era of technological advancement and big data, cultural pluralism and religious transformations, as well as the million-dollar government budgets, is ridiculous. However, looking at it from a broader perspective, one cannot ignore that the highly publicized challenges of modern-day health care could use some consummates of Hippocratic medicine. In my opinion, these ideas are as important in the world today as they were 2500 years ago because although human technology has dramatically shifted in the last few centuries, human nature has remained constant.

First, Hippocratic medicine is an undertaking of the medical code of ethics that benefit the sick and protecting them against all forms of personal harm and social injustices. There have been many translations of this philosophy over the years, but one thing has remained constant: it bans giving harmful drugs or using illegal means for abortion purposes (Smith, 2018). It also encourages medical practices that are pure and that follow the divine law of medicine. It also prohibits physicians from using the knife but instead leaves the method to those who are experienced in the craft. Besides, it prevents all forms of corruption and injustices including men and women seduction.

Additionally, it advocates for the privacy of the patient at all costs. For instance, in the Hippocratic oath, the oath takers swear to respect and maintain the patient's rights to privacy at all costs. These and many other ancient pledges from Hippocratic medicine are still very relevant in modern medicine and oncology. That is why the oath has been revised and translated into English among other contemporary European languages by 1750 (Smith, 2018). The past few centuries have seen the pledge recited in different versions by doctors graduating from prestigious medical schools. Quoting it may seem insignificant to some, but the graduates understand and value the oath. Moreover, most contemporary medical ethicists have challenged the original Hippocratic oath in these ceremonies because of the extensive scientific, economic, religious and political changes in the world today but new versions have been proposed. This shows that although few changes will be introduced in the new version, the Hippocratic oath remains their foundation, thus proving its relevance in modern medicine.

References

Hippocrates: The "Greek Miracle" in Medicine. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgajpd/medicina%20antiqua/sa_hippint.html

Smith, W. (2018). THE HIPPOCRATIC TRADITION [Ebook]. Cornell University Press. Retrieved from http://www.biusante.parisdescartes.fr/ressources/pdf/medicina-hippo2.pdf