The doctors Hippocratic oath says that as a new doctor the doctor swears to do no harm and treat the patient with respect, dignity and compassion.
As an important step in becoming a doctor, medical students must take the Hippocratic Oath.
And one of the promises within that oath is "first, do no harm" (or "primum non nocere," the Latin translation from the original Greek.)
One of the oldest binding documents in history, the Oath written by Hippocrates is still held sacred by physicians: to treat the ill to the best of one's ability, to preserve a patient's privacy, to teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and so on.
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 ethical standards.
The Hippocratic Oath is one of the oldest binding documents in history.
Written in antiquity, its principles are held sacred by doctors to this day: treat the sick to the best of one's ability, preserve patient privacy, teach the secrets of medicine to the next generation, and so on.
Violation of these codes by doctors will result in disciplinary proceedings, including the loss of license to practice medicine.
Despite the more comprehensive and modern-day professional codes, the Hippocratic Oath is still used, perhaps for the sake of posterity.
The Hippocrates oath is used out of context by lay people and mass media to emphasise that “patients interests are above everything else to a doctor”.
The oath is not legally binding. It is more of an ethical signpost.