Upon entering health professions it is common to take the Hippocratic oath, a solemn oath asking health providers to place patients’ well-being ahead of their own. In the modern era of healthcare this moral oath can be internalized in ways that creates moral ambiguity within physician facing a choice between addressing their own fundamental human needs and the perpetual needs of their patients. Without providing a framework that allows physicians “to put their own oxygen mask on at first” physicians’ become increasingly at risk of burnout and suicide.

“ I pledge to embrace and promote the well-being of our self, our colleagues, and the medical community as part of our responsibility to the effective care of our patients, ourselves, and in partnership with our healthcare organization.

Panda, O’brien and Lo

The Oath to Self-Care and Well-being, penned in 2020 by Drs. Panda, Obrien and Lo, provides us with a modernized version of the Hippocratic oath, one appropriately centering physician self-care. It beautifully articulates the value of self-care with its opening rally to solemnly “pledge to embrace and promote the well-being of our self, our colleagues, and the medical community as part of our responsibility to the effective care of our patients, ourselves, and in partnership with our healthcare organization.” An oath such as this should be embraced and promoted by the radiology community to build up  a culture that appropriately prioritizes healthy levels of self-care among the radiology workforce.