The Hippocratic Oath was probably written in the fifth century BC and was intended to be affirmed by each doctor on entry to the medical profession. The Hippocratic Oath and its successors, such as the World Medical Association's Declaration of Geneva, have expressed a fundamental medical duty to pursue patients' best medical interests, to avoid harming or exploiting them, and to maintain their confidences. You can link to the full text of the original Hippocratic Oath on the MedHist website at the Wellcome Trust.

Today, the Hippocratic Oath is not generally sworn by medical students upon qualification, since the language of the Oath has become outmoded. However, about half of all UK medical schools administer an oath of some kind, either upon graduation, or at the beginning of their medical studies in order to acknowledge, formally, the student's or graduate's commitment to medicine.

Texts vary. Some use an updated version of the Hippocratic Oath, while others use the World Medical Association's Declaration of Geneva (first adopted in 1948 and amended in 1968, 1983 and 1994), or an oath formulated by the medical school itself. Although views differ about the value of making some form of oath, the BMA supports the practice of health professionals making a formal commitment to ethical standards at the start of their careers