The Development of Medical Ethics in Korea

According to Hippocrates, the three elements that embody the field of medicine are sickness, patients and doctors. Medical ethics is formed and developed through the relationships between these three elements of medicine. In particular, through the doctor’s relationship with the patient and the ethics that may arise from that relationship, the study of disorders and their treatments, and the various responsibilities that arise through a doctor’s relationship to the field of medicine and his colleagues. Of course, in today’s world there have been a diverse range of other parties that have become involved in these relationships, such as with government, third party payer or future generations, making the relationships more complicated, but the relationships between the three basic elements remain to be essence and core of medical ethics. The source of medical ethics is primarily internal, namely through the beliefs that are acknowledged by the doctor and his associates. In particular, the doctor’s oath comprises the basis of his ethics. However, as duties to society, particularly to the patient, became recognized, those beliefs and oaths gradually became promises to the general public that the doctor is “this kind of person” and the approval and granting of authority from society followed and the substance of medical ethics was formed. If that is indeed the case, then a look into the ethics that doctors adhere to can reveal how the doctor’s consciousness of ethics was formed. In particular, if the course of transitions in the declaration of medical ethics is examined, the transitions in consciousness can be tracked as well. Through the transitions in the declaration of medical ethics, this paper will examine the changes that have taken place in the advice that doctors give. Together with a number of cases that influenced changes in the declaration of medical ethics, this paper will show the changes that society demanded and how doctors were able to cope with these demands. The examination of this process will also reveal the type of ethics-related mindset that a doctor requires. The Function of the Declaration of Ethics