On the 26th of March, 1971, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet decided that doctors, and in particular physicians, should no longer vow to neither the Hippocratic Oath nor the Osteopathic Oath. Instead, they should vow to an alternative one, namely The Oath of Soviet Physicians, for which the ruling went into effect on the 1st of June, 1971.

The key features of this oath were (1) one’s dedication to preventive medicine, (2) one’s commitment to the principles of communist morality, and (3) one’s responsibility to both the citizens of the USSR and the Soviet government.

#The Oath of Soviet Physicians

*“Upon having conferred on me the high calling of physician and entering medical practice, I do solemnly swear [to] dedicate all my knowledge and strength to the preservation and improvement of the health of mankind and to the treatment and prevention of disease, and to work in good conscience wherever it is required by society; to be always ready to provide medical care, to relate to the patient attentively and carefully, and to preserve medical confidences; to constantly perfect my medical knowledge and clinical skills and thereby in my work to aid in the development of medical science and practice; to refer, if the patient’s better interests warrant it, for advice from my fellow physicians and never myself to refuse to give such advice or help; to preserve and develop the noble traditions of Soviet medicine; to be guided in all my actions by the principles of communist morality, and to always bear in mind the high calling of a Soviet physician and my responsibility to the people and to the Soviet state. [Recognizing the danger that nuclear weaponry presents for mankind, to struggle tirelessly for peace, and for the prevention of nuclear war,]*^1 I swear loyalty to this oath for as long as I live.”

#Footnote

^1 The text inside of brackets [] is an addition that was subsequently added in 1983 — pledging for world peace, the prevention of nuclear wars, and acknowledging the devastating dangers and effects of both using and possessing nuclear weaponry.