Oath

Every time we stick a needle in someone, take a scalpel to the skin, or put a tube down someone's throat to help them breathe, we must remember that we do harm. Even in choosing the potent medications we have, we do harm. We justify this by saying that such evils are necessary to effect a far better good, that the benefits outweigh the risks, that the process of healing is not free of pain. I believe that to be true. But nevertheless, I should never forget that in doing so, I may inconvenience, risk, or even harm those I intend to help.

Image is of the statue of Hippocrates at UCSF, from Wikipedia, shown under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 License.