NEW DELHI: The Hippocratic Oath, a centuries-old code of ethics for medical practitioners worldwide, may be replaced with Charak Shapath, according to a proposal by the National Medical Commission (NMC).
Though there has been no official confirmation from the NMC, which works to improve access to quality medical education, a member, who did not wish to be named, said that a proposal is under consideration to replace the Hippocratic Oath with Charak Shapath, after Charak, the father of Ayurveda, and which lays down a code of conduct for healers in ancient Indian medicine. But a final decision is yet to be taken.
A document said to be the minutes of the NMC meeting of February 7 has been widely circulated on social media, triggering a debate.
According to Dr Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, a former member of the Medical Council of India and dean of Patna-based Aryabhatta Knowledge University, the NMC is discussing the move with medical colleges.
“They (NMC) have proposed this and are inviting suggestions. We have welcomed this. They will change the oath after taking inputs from all medical colleges in the country and will then issue a notification,” he told The New Indian Express.
The Hippocratic Oath dates back to the Greek philosopher and physician Hippocrates. It forms the edifice of modern medicine and is used in graduation ceremonies in many medical colleges.
The proposal has divided the medical fraternity.
Dr Rohan Krishnan, president of Federation of All India Medical Association (FEMA), said, “This isn’t doing any good to students.”
“We must keep medical education at par with international guidelines and curriculum,” Dr. Krishnan told The New Indian Express.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also tweeted many “doctors are expressing concern. I am all in favour of introducing Indian elements into Indian education, but not at the expense of universal values and standards. Why can't the 'charak shapath' supplement, rather than supplant, the Hippocratic Oath that doctors worldwide take?"
Dr. Girdhar Gyani, director general, Association of Healthcare Providers (India), said as a hospital body they “support the move.”
However, Dr. Arvinder Singh Soin, chairman of liver transplant surgery Department at Medanta, Gurugram, tweeted: “We at AIIMS MBBS convocations have always taken the Charak Oath.”