The Tamil Nadu health department on Sunday removed the dean of a medical college from his post a day after first-year students there took the “Maharshi Charaka Shapath” instead of the Hippocratic Oath, The Hindu reported.
A Rathinavel, the dean of the Madurai Medical College, was placed on waiting list, PTI reported. The health department said that the act was “strongly condemnable”.
A departmental inquiry against Rathinavel for allegedly violating rules, said state Health Minister Ma Subramanian.
The Hippocratic Oath, attributed to ancient Greek physician Hippocrates, is an ethical code that medical students swear to uphold when they take up the profession. While there is no single accepted version of the document, the oath in India generally calls upon students to practice their profession with conscience and dignity, put the health of patients first and respect their privacy, according to The Times of India.
The Charaka Shapath, or Charaka oath, is derived from a passage in the Charaka Samhita – a Sanskrit text on ayurveda. The passage has dos and don’ts for medical students.
On April 2, the National Medical Commission had recommended that the Charaka Shapath should replace the Hippocratic Oath in MBBS courses, according to PTI. However, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had said in Parliament that the Charaka Shapath would be optional, and would not be forced on students.
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