PURPOSE: Evaluate the graduation oaths (GO) administered in Brazilian medical schools. METHODS: Descriptive study covering graduations in Brazilian medical schools up to the year 2004. A questionnaire was sent to the dean of each university using three different attempts of contact: mail, fax and e-mail. RESULTS: From a total of 96 contacted universities, 48 (51,1%) answered to the questionnaire, 25 of which (52,1%) public institutions. All medical schools administer some oath during the course. In relation to the text used: 44 universities (91,7%) used the Hippocratic Oath or updated versions. Thirty eight answers to the questionnaire (79,2%) forwarded the entire text of the oath allowing to analyze its content. The most frequently mentioned principles were beneficence, non-maleficence (94,7%) and confidentiality (97,4%). Only one oath expressed the principle of autonomy of the patient and none of them the principle of justice. CONCLUSIONS: The use of the GO is very common in Brazilian medical schools. However, unlike to what is observed in other countries, the greater part of texts are still based on the Hippocratic Oath and do not address current relevant ethical and bioethical principles.
Hippocratic Oath; Ethics, Medical; Education, Medical
