Medical students in many countries take a medical oath on graduation from medical school. Given that there is little or no formal medical ethics education in many Nigerian medical schools, the current relevance of swearing to these medical oaths is being questioned. This study determined mainly the views of pre-registration house officers on the relevance of the Hippocratic-based medical oaths and some selected issues related to the ideals espoused therein. Using selfadministered questionnaires,…
Read moreMedical students in many countries take a medical oath on graduation from medical school. Given that there is little or no formal medical ethics education in many Nigerian medical schools, the current relevance of swearing to these medical oaths is being questioned. This study determined mainly the views of pre-registration house officers on the relevance of the Hippocratic-based medical oaths and some selected issues related to the ideals espoused therein. Using selfadministered questionnaires, a cross-sectional survey of PRHOs was conducted in 2013 as a preorientation workshop activity in Nigeria. Respondents were simply required to indicate if they agreed/disagreed with 29 perception statements related to the medical oaths and their ideals. Simple descriptive analysis was done using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 19. The sample included 63 males and 41 females, who had all sworn to the Physician’s Oath at their 9 respective medical schools. Though only two respondents were confident about reciting the Physician’s oath/any medical oath from memory or recalling all the specific details contained in it, the majority of them agreed with all the traditional ideals espoused in the Hippocraticbased oaths, including the prohibitions on abortion, euthanasia/physician-assisted suicide and sexual misconduct. Contemporary issues like doctors’ strike actions, job security/self-preservation issues and demand for payment of hospital fees before service were shown to be contentious issues for which there was no explicit guidance from the medical oaths. For these oaths to gain greater relevance and priority among these doctors, they should be recited within the context of a reformed undergraduate medical educational system with an integrated medical ethics curriculum and a functional health care system that is responsive and sensitive to societal needs and changes.