gms | German Medical Science

Background: Within the history of medicine, the Hippocratic Oath has represented the essence of medical practice and is one of the pillars of medical ethics. At present, some Universities around the world take the Oath, or versions of it, at different times of the medical training, but it is not a universal practice. Living the oath’s principles is not always clear to the students.

Method: Due to the relevance of the meaning of the Oath, a study was carried out during 2018 and 2019, among final-year medical students at the Duisburg-Essen University and the University of Quindío in Germany and Colombia respectively. Focus groups semi-structured interviews and free text essays were conducted to answer the following questions: 1) what does the Oath mean to you, 2) what is your role as a doctor, 3) do doctors have to rethink their humanistic aspects during medical practice?

Results: A total of 26 students from the University of Duisburg-Essen (54% male, 46% female, 27% foreign), and 28 students from the University of Quindío (43% male, 57% female, 3.5% foreign) participated in the study. Collected data was classified by cualitative relevance and saturation. The German and Colombian students disagreed on issues regarding abortion and euthanasia. Both groups agreed on the technical and social responsibilities of their profession and the need to be educated from both a humanistic and medical perspective. All students highlighted the absence of humanistic and empathic perspective in the curriculum.

Discussion: The Hippocratic Oath was used as a tool for senior students, close to the internship year, to be confronted with the ethical and empathic principles of clinical practice. Despite cultural and curricular differences, all agreed on the need to include faculty and clinical colleagues in teaching students how to apply and live these principles beyond isolated medical knowledge.

Conclusions: The medical education must rethink empathic and humanistic aspects within the medical curriculum to generate reflective environments that bring teachers and students closer to their patients.