The Indian Medical Association (IMA) state branch has spoken out against the National Medical Commission’s (NMC) proposal to replace the Hippocratic Oath with Charak Shapath during medical graduates’ convocation. It was stated that Charak Shapath was not created with contemporary medicine in mind.
“Such oaths shall follow an international outlook and it must be beyond the views of caste, race, gender and creed. The oath is meant for the betterment of human beings and it shall be suitable for modern science which promotes constant questioning and corrections, whereas the Charak Shapath is based on regionalism and it insists on aspects that hinder the personal freedom of woman patients, promotes superstition and not suitable for scientific methods,” said a joint statement by by IMA state president Dr Samuel Koshy and state secretary Dr Joseph Benaven.
“The IMA is concerned that the proposed oath will result in exclusion from the global community of modern medicine and it will drag the sector backward,” the statement added. The state branch demanded prompt action on the part of authorities to correct the wrong.
The suggestion for replacement was made during a recent meeting of NMC, the regulator for medical education and practices in the country. The minutes of the meeting said the oath during the white coat ceremony shall be ‘Maharishi Charak Shapath’ instead of Hippocratic Oath.
Hippocratic Oath is an ethical code for fresh medical graduates that is believed to have been written by ancient Greek physician Hippocrates. The World Medical Association (WMA) revised the oath and promoted it as the Declaration of Geneva in 1948. It outlines in concise terms the professional duties of physicians and affirms the ethical principles of the global medical profession.
