Do Medical doctors have any ethical reason to treat those whom they know can not now pay for their service? With the increasing numbers of uninsured Americans, does anyone still believe in this oath?
I try to believe in it. Yet, if I had just spent thousands of dollars on Medical School, I’d be less likely to try to take care of those who are less likely to pay for my service. I don’t think this is right, but I think it is a common viewpoint.
So far as I know doctors in the modern age don’t take the Hippocratic Oath. From what I can remember the classic oath starts out with a prayer to gods no longer worshipped, prevents doctors from cutting into their patients, and forbides them from sharing medical information with anyone who isn’t also a doctor.
Marc
The AMA cites this as one of its principles of ethics (the law may deem otherwise, i.e. in providing for adequate interim care for a patient a doctor no longer wishes to treat):
“A physician shall, in the provision of appropriate patient care, except in emergencies, be free to choose whom to serve, with whom to associate, and the environment in which to provide medical care.”
It’s true that taking the Hippocratic Oath, or even a modified form of it, is not necessarily the rule for graduating medical students. I know I didn’t. I think my class swore an oath to Baal. Or Cthulhu. Or He Who Must Not Be Named. It’s been so long that I don’t remember.
For me, it would depend on how much treatment the person needed, and I’d have to weigh it with how much time I’d lose and such… but I’m such a big softie, almost anyone would be able to come in and get treated.
Thank goodness I’m going into pharmacy. 
I took the Hippocratic oath, and I see anyone they send me whom I deem needing my services.
But one doesn’t follow the other; I’m paid to see whomever they send me.
For reference, the oath in question
I swear by Apollo the healer, by Aesculapius, by Hygeia (health) and all the powers of healing, and call to witness all the gods and goddesses that I may keep this Oath, and promise to the best of my ability and judgment:
I will pay the same respect to my master in the science (arts) as I do to my parents, and share my life with him and pay all my debts to him. I will regard his sons as my brothers and teach them the science, if they desire to learn it, without fee or contract. I will hand on precepts, lectures, and all other learning to my sons, to those of my master, and to those pupils duly apprenticed and sworn, and to none other.
I will use my power to help the sick to the best of my ability and judgment; I will abstain from harming or wrongdoing any man by it.
I will not give a fatal draught (drugs) to anyone if I am asked, nor will I suggest any such thing. Neither will I give a woman means to procure an abortion.
I will be chaste and religious in my life and in my practice.
I will not cut, even for the stone, but I will leave such procedures to the practitioners of that craft.
Whenever I go into a house, I will go to help the sick, and never with the intention of doing harm or injury. I will not abuse my position to indulge in sexual contacts with the bodies of women or of men, whether they be freemen or slaves.
Whatever I see or hear, professionally or privately, which ought not to be divulged, I will keep secret and tell no one.
If, therefore, I observe this Oath and do not violate it, may I prosper both in my life and in my profession, earning good repute among all men for all time. If I transgress and forswear this Oath, may my lot be otherwise.
Which doesn’t say that one must treat for free. Nor does the one I said, the prayer of Maimonedes, at least as such:
"Almighty God, Thou has created the human body with infinite wisdom. Ten thousand times ten thousand organs hast Thou combined in it that act unceasingly and harmoniously to preserve the whole in all its beauty the body which is the envelope of the immortal soul. They are ever acting in perfect order, agreement and accord. Yet, when the frailty of matter or the unbridling of passions deranges this order or interrupts this accord, then forces clash and the body crumbles into the primal dust from which it came. Thou sendest to man diseases as beneficent messengers to foretell approaching danger and to urge him to avert it.
"Thou has blest Thine earth, Thy rivers and Thy mountains with healing substances; they enable Thy creatures to alleviate their sufferings and to heal their illnesses. Thou hast endowed man with the wisdom to relieve the suffering of his brother, to recognize his disorders, to extract the healing substances, to discover their powers and to prepare and to apply them to suit every ill. In Thine Eternal Providence Thou hast chosen me to watch over the life and health of Thy creatures. I am now about to apply myself to the duties of my profession. Support me, Almighty God, in these great labors that they may benefit mankind, for without Thy help not even the least thing will succeed.
"Inspire me with love for my art and for Thy creatures. Do not allow thirst for profit, ambition for renown and admiration, to interfere with my profession, for these are the enemies of truth and of love for mankind and they can lead astray in the great task of attending to the welfare of Thy creatures. Preserve the strength of my body and of my soul that they ever be ready to cheerfully help and support rich and poor, good and bad, enemy as well as friend. In the sufferer let me see only the human being. Illumine my mind that it recognize what presents itself and that it may comprehend what is absent or hidden. Let it not fail to see what is visible, but do not permit it to arrogate to itself the power to see what cannot be seen, for delicate and indefinite are the bounds of the great art of caring for the lives and health of Thy creatures. Let me never be absent- minded. May no strange thoughts divert my attention at the bedside of the sick, or disturb my mind in its silent labors, for great and sacred are the thoughtful deliberations required to preserve the lives and health of Thy creatures.
"Grant that my patients have confidence in me and my art and follow my directions and my counsel. Remove from their midst all charlatans and the whole host of officious relatives and know-all nurses, cruel people who arrogantly frustrate the wisest purposes of our art and often lead Thy creatures to their death.
"Should those who are wiser than I wish to improve and instruct me, let my soul gratefully follow their guidance; for vast is the extent of our art. Should conceited fools, however, censure me, then let love for my profession steel me against them, so that I remain steadfast without regard for age, for reputation, or for honor, because surrender would bring to Thy creatures sickness and death.
"Imbue my soul with gentleness and calmness when older colleagues, proud of their age, wish to displace me or to scorn me or disdainfully to teach me. May even this be of advantage to me, for they know many things of which I am ignorant, but let not their arrogance give me pain. For they are old and old age is not master of the passions. I also hope to attain old age upon this earth, before Thee, Almighty God!
"Let me be contented in everything except in the great science of my profession. Never allow the thought to arise in me that I have attained to sufficient knowledge, but vouchsafe to me the strength, the leisure and the ambition ever to extend my knowledge. For art is great, but the mind of man is ever expanding.
“Almighty God! Thou hast chosen me in Thy mercy to watch over the life and death of Thy creatures. I now apply myself to my profession. Support me in this great task so that it may benefit mankind, for without Thy help not even the least thing will succeed.”
That said, most docs I know could’ve made more as businessfolk. We want to do good by society as long as we are not killing ourselves in the process. Most will see a percentage of free patients and Public Aid that is severely discounted relative to our usual rates.
It is selfish, really. I want feel good about myself. I mean, if I didn’t do it then how am I any better than a lawyer? 