Beneficence, justice, and lifelong learning expressed in medical oaths.

Introduction: The principles of justice, beneficence, and nonmaleficence are prescriptions of the Hippocratic Oath. To fulfill them, physicians are obligated morally to lifelong learning; yet, there is little evidence that the relationship of beneficence to lifelong learning or to continuing medical education (CME) is expressed in medical oaths.

Methods: We analyzed 48 medical oaths written from the first century Ce through the present day, searching for a commitment to lifelong learning and for specification of a relationship to the principle of beneficence.