Le site de vulgarisation scientifique de l’Université de Liège. ULg, Université de Liège
Hippocrates

Hippocrates was Greek physician, who was born around 460 B.C. on the island of Kos in the Aegean Sea, to a family of doctors. Many treatises on medicine have been attributed to him. He is known for having revolutionised medicine, by the use of a pragmatic and rational method that ran counter to the religious and magical methods then in use. Hippocratic ethics are explained in a number of the treatises under his name, including today’s Hippocratic Oath. This oath was sworn by his disciples and is still repeated by future doctors today, if in a modified form. The Oath details doctors’ duties, including the privacy of the doctor-patient relationship. Hippocrates died around 370 B.C.


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