All physicians must first take the Hippocratic Oath before beginning on their path of medicine and healing. The oath is thousands of years old and represents the key elements of the physician's beliefs and ideals toward his patients and medicine in general. This ancient oath is still practiced all over the world today, and represents man kind's long and arduous attempt to master healing and medicine.
             The beginning of the physician's oath opens with an invocation of Greek gods and goddesses, most noteworthy Apollo and Asclepius. In this way, the physician taking the oath is swearing by his most scared beliefs to fulfill his duty. If he were to ever break his oath, that would be blasphemous, he would be breaking his promise to the gods. This oath originated in ancient Greece and therefore still has ties to ancient Greek customs and beliefs. Apollo was one of the major Olympian gods who presided over human affairs. Asclepius was the demigod of medicine and healing. His daughter, Hygeia was the goddess of health and cleanliness. The ancient physician would have revered these deities due to his connection to the things they governed. This beginning passage of the oath also proves significant for it shows how much power the physician actually carries within his hands. He carries a gift from the gods, and this oath ensures that he will use that gift for the good of all man kind, rather than for selfish or immoral reasons.
             Within the context of this oath, physicians who teach others their highly crafted art are revered as father figures to their students. This is entirely justifiable, for they teach life lessons which ensure both the success of their students and the benefit of their patients. Parents are the primary source for life lessons, and so physicians who become teachers tap into that role when they divulge the secrets of medicine and healing to their students. This analogy is also justifiable in th...