Analyzing the Semantic Space of the Hippocratic Oath

The Hippocratic Oath is the foundation for the moral ideals and goals of Western medicine. We aimed to develop a research tool to determine the perception among diverse groups of physicians and to determine the current perception of the Hippocratic Oath. We used the semantic differential to map the connotative meaning of the Oath. We selected 34 research articles with abstracts from a literature search. The attributes (adjectives) used to describe the Oath were added to adjectives from a semi-structured questionnaire filled in at the Olomouc military hospital. We modified the factors and selected 8 scales by optimizing the semantic differential. Overall, Czech physicians perceived the Oath highly positively based on the factor of evaluation. Negative and even neutral viewpoints were rare. The strongest factor– progressivity–revealed that the topicality of the Hippocratic Oath is very important to physicians. A statistically significant difference was found between female physicians and their male counterparts, with women rating the Oath’s progressivity higher than men, as well as perceiving the Oath generally more positively than men. Our analysis confirmed the importance and success of continuing education. The standardized methodology can be used in medical education to analyze the semantic space of the Hippocratic Oath.