During private conversations and formal interviews with many physicians and nurses over the past year and a half, I have learned about their struggles, efforts and challenges dealing with the China Virus and pandemic.

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One of my go-to questions is “how does the Hippocratic oath play into all of this–COVID, masks, lockdowns, Big Pharma, for profit hospital systems, and the decisions you make daily?”

I can break most of their answers down into two primary thoughts.

1. They have gone through the same basic scenarios many of us have.

“In the beginning we didn’t know what we were facing, so we prepared and reacted for the worst,” one doctor in his early 40s, summarized it well for many of his peers. “Did we overreact? Maybe, but with the information provided (by CDC) it was all we had.”

“We learned much along the way,” he said. “Not just about epidemiology, and statistics, treatments, protocols and responses, but how to practice and treat by telemedicine, for instance.”

“If I knew then what I know now, yes, I would change a few things. We’ve all learned and it’s made me better. I’m frustrated with the government, pharmaceuticals and insurance companies, especially with 80,000 codes.”

“All-in-all, they went way too far. Mistrust is high. But we have to toe the line.”

2. The Hippocratic oath is important but the system makes it difficult.

“As an eager medical student, I proudly recited the Hippocratic oath which binded me to the highest standards and code of medical ethics,” said a 39-year-old surgeon. “As a medical student, I was unassuming and didn’t understand the challenges I would face adhering to the sacred promises of my oath.”

“Hospitals and health systems are different–profit and non-profit–we have to work by their rules, philosophies and processes. Are the executives focused primarily on cost performance or are they centered on patient care?”

“The best systems have doctors who mutually insist on high standards and ethics,” she elaborated. “Do they have side businesses or profit interests besides their own practice?”

“Most of us are dedicated, commited, and know the truth in our obligations to all fellow human beings, of those well and unwell.”

“I liken it to what we, Americans, are experiencing with our Constitution,” she said. “It’s challenging when courts, bureaucracy and lawmakers seem to have forgotten it.”

“Most of us have learned to navigate the hurdles to get the job done for our patients,” she confessed. “Make no mistake about it. That can be a challenge.”

So what does the Hippocratic oath actually say?

“I swear to fulfill, to the best of my ability and judgment, this covenant:
I will respect the hard-won scientific gains of those physicians in whose steps I walk, and gladly share such knowledge as is mine with those who are to follow.

I will apply, for the benefit of the sick, all measures [that] are required, avoiding those twin traps of overtreatment and therapeutic nihilism.

I will remember that there is art to medicine as well as science, and that warmth, sympathy, and understanding may outweigh the surgeon’s knife or the chemist’s drug.
I will not be ashamed to say “I know not,” nor will I fail to call in my colleagues when the skills of another are needed for a patient’s recovery.

I will respect the privacy of my patients, for their problems are not disclosed to me that the world may know.

Most especially must I tread with care in matters of life and death. If it is given me to save a life, all thanks. But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty.

Above all, I must not play at God.
I will remember that I do not treat a fever chart, a cancerous growth, but a sick human being, whose illness may affect the person’s family and economic stability. My responsibility includes these related problems, if I am to care adequately for the sick.

I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure.
I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.

If I do not violate this oath, may I enjoy life and art, respected while I live and remembered with affection thereafter.

May I always act so as to preserve the finest traditions of my calling and may I long experience the joy of healing those who seek my help.”

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A Special Message From Dodie Dennis (Retired RN)

With 40 years experience as a licensed Registered Nurse on a cruise line, a Colorado ski resort, and in Phoenix, AZ, I did everything from Operating Room to Immunology to all levels of Newborn care.

Among my favorite jobs was teaching childbirth and nutrition classes. For the most part, I believe whole foods trump supplements. And eating a nutritious diet loaded with veggies, grass-fed meat, and plenty of good fats is the starting point. You certainly cannot supplement your way out of poor dietary choices. However, even with the best diet, there may be a few gaps that we might want to fill to “supplement” a solid diet.

For example, Omega-3 fatty acids are vitally important to our health. Our Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio should be 1:1 or 1:2. Sadly, the average person’s is more like 1:20. Not only are we not getting enough Omega-3 from sources like grass-fed meats and fish/seafood, we’re also over consuming Omega 6 (e.g. vegetable oils, excessive nut consumption) – a double whammy.

Personally, Jack and I don’t eat enough fish to get adequate Omega-3 due to concerns about toxins, mercury, etc. That’s why we welcome a new sponsor to “supplement” with Green Pasture Fermented Cod Liver Oil (FCLO).

Welcome Green Pasture Products to CleverJourneys

I use the word “supplement” loosely here, since FCLO is really a whole food. Not only that, but it’s also a traditional food with a long history of use. Quite the opposite of highly processed fish oils.

Fermented Cod Liver Oil is simply cod livers fermented naturally to extract the oils. The cold-processing method maintains all the fat soluble vitamins. Most fish oils on the market are heat processed. What’s worse is that they’re then bleached and deodorized, and since most of the vitamins have been removed or destroyed, synthetic vitamins are added back in.

FCLO contains more than Omega 3s. It’s also a great source of Vitamin A and Vitamin D, and contains small amounts of Vitamin K2, Vitamin E, and various other quinones.

If you want to try out the amazing benefits of Fermented Cod Liver Oil, or maybe your current supply is running low, we highly recommend Green Pasture.

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They are the only company to supply naturally fermented cod liver oil that we are aware of (and the one recommended most highly by the Weston Price Foundation).

Check out Green Pasture’s website now and tell them CleverJourneys sent you.

In addition to Fermented Cod Liver oil, Green Pasture also sells other products like high vitamin butter oil, coconut oil, and coconut ghee.

Jack likes Green Pasture because they are an American business that share the same patriotic values we do.

Check them out today! God Bless.