Hippocratic Oath

It is a popular myth that all physicians take Hippocratic Oath upon their graduation. According to a study “Content Analyses of Oaths Administered at US Medical Schools in 2000” published in Academic Medicine, out of 122 U.S. allopathic schools, only 60 administered the Hippocratic Oath or its modified version, 30 administered the oaths authored by medical students or by the schools, and 32 administered other forms of oath. All osteopathic schools administered Osteopathic Oath. The Hippocratic Oath was created by a Pythagorean sect 2,500 years ago in ancient Greece. It was a protest document chastising the practice of abortions and euthanasia. The study concludes that "the impact of using a nonstandardized medical oath on physicians' professionalism and the inculcation of common ethical values and principles remains unknown."

Original Version

I swear by Apollo, the healer, Asclepius, Hygieia, and Panacea, and I take to witness all the gods, all the goddesses, to keep according to my ability and my judgment, the following Oath and agreement:  

what is the curriculum of the proposed medical school (UNTMD)?

At a Town Hall meeting on August 23, 2010, President Ransom presented the future UNTMD curriculum as, “The MD School will build on the success achieved at TCOM by adopting a similar, although not identical, educational delivery model, teaching style, and curriculum, subject to meeting all the requirements for curriculum content for an MD program.”[1]

A few minor changes will involve scholarly concentrations, certificates of recognition, and inter-professional education.[2]

Dr. Scott Stoll questions the fair process of the MD study group

The following letter dated on March 30th, 2009 by Scott Stoll, DO, PhD.

I wish to submit written comments to the UNT Board of Regents regarding the decision as to whether to add an MD degree option at the UNTHSC. My comments are related both to the method by which this decision is being made/ portrayed as well as the substance of the debate.

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!

The following letter to UNT Board of Regents dated on March 29, 2009 by Edward A. Luke, Jr., D.O.

I am writing out of my concern over the Proposal to create an MD degree option at the UNTHSC.

I may have some unique experiences that have shaped my view regarding this Proposal. I grew up in Fort Worth. My father was Edward Luke, Sr., M.D. I graduated from TCOM in the class of 1981. While in school I was the Class President for 2 years. I was a previous President of the Alumni Association. In my residency I spent 2 years at Michigan State University in a Psychiatric residency. I served on the faculty of TCOM for 3 ½ years before opening my private practice here in Fort Worth for 8 years. I served as the Chief Psychiatrist for Geriatrics at the North Texas State Hospital during 10 ½ years I was on their staff.

I chose to enter the Psychiatric residency at MSU because it was affiliated with major medical schools, and was jointly approved by the Osteopathic and Allopathic medical professions.

Acupuncture makes news in the ophthalmic world.

A recent randomized and controlled study of acupuncture treatment in older children, between 8 and 12 year-old, with anisometropic amblyopia (lazy eye due to optic power difference of the 2 eyes) showed better results than the current standard of eye-patching treatment.

Ambyopia, aka, lazy eye, is the medical term used when the vision in one of the eyes is reduced even though the eye is anatomically and structurally normal. During the development milestones, the eye and the brain are not working together properly and the brain favors the other eye and thus not allows a proper development of connections between the lazy eye and the brain. If no treatment was initiated during young age, the individual can have permanent poor vision in the lazy eye depending on the severity. This condition affects about 3% of children.

• "Acupuncture...has been used for treating ophthalmic disorders such as dry eye, myopia, and amblyopia. In recent years, the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging has demonstrated a correlation between vision-related acupoint stimulation and visual cortical activation, suggesting a possible basis for the use of acupuncture in treating amblyopia."

Medscape Ophthalmology: Acupuncture May Be Effective for Amblyopia in Some Older Children

What was the real relationship of Andrew Still and David Palmer?

History of manual medicine can be dated back as early as 400 BCE. However, Chiropractic and Osteopathy are better known disciplines in manual medicine. Both were founded in the USA. Osteopathy was founded by Andrew Still in 1872 and Chiropratic was founded by David Palmer in 1895. As there are lots of similarities in the manipulative techniquesof adjusting the musculoskeletal disorders, there have been rumors whether Dr. Palmer was a student of Dr. Still.



Andrew Taylor Still, MD,DO



Daniel David Palmer, DC

 Many accounts of the history of osteopathy mention that one of Dr Still's early students was David Palmer. Palmer reportedly studied with Dr Still for only about six weeks. However, the association between Dr Still and Palmer is usually not mentioned in accounts of the history of chiropractic. According to the textbook “An Osteopathic Approach to Diagnosis and Treatment” by Eileen L. DiGiovanna, and al., Dr. Palmer spent at least one week with Dr. Still in 1893.

Here is an interesting chiropractic account of Dr. Palmer and Dr. Still’s relationship. Still vs. Palmer: A Remembrance of the Famous Debate

• "I maintain that chiropractic is a child of osteopathy," Dr. Still sustained.
• "Of all the known therapeutic systems, osteopathy is the only one which bears any similarity, because both work on the spine," acknowledged Dr. Palmer. "If related, they would be distant cousins."
•  "Bull dribble! Chiropractors have usurped part of osteopathy and are faking it shamelessly!"
• "The practitioners of massage and Swedish movements have made the same claim about osteopathy!"
• "The general osteopathic treatment is far more than a combination of massage and Swedish movements," pointed out Dr. Still. "It includes rib stretching, modified spinal column stretching and spinal manipulation."