Anything like the Hippocratic Oath?

[Anfortas]

So yeah, after my little sabbatical to get my real life responsibilities in order I am ready to learn from my errors from my first attempt at character creation and try again. Before I do this though, I had a small question on what sorts of oaths doctors in Yamatai take. I am planning on making a medic you see and want to get things right this time. Though through research it appears many real life historical physician's oaths are much the same; I have, for the moment, based the one my character is using off of the 17 Rules of Enjuin from Japan.

I think it best though if I get an official answer before I potentially make a gaffe by including this in my character submission though.

 

[Wes]

I don't think there's been any oaths so far other than the "Do the right thing" one all Star Army soldiers have to swear to.

 

[Fred]

I must point out - objectively - that 'doing the right thing' in Yamatai is a somewhat skewed notion. Otherwise, there wouldn't be any United Outer Colonies.

The Yamatai Star Empire was described by a character called Mizuho as a nation bent on jingoism. Wes and I don't exactly have the same values - so I don't expect him to agree with me - but I can relate with Mizuho there.

People in Yamatai do not believe they are 'bad people'. They consider themselves civilized, they consider they are an upstanding society, they largely consider that society an utopia and they - in general - are quite proud of being (or being in) a strong nation.

Yamatai, however, is an empire that assures it's prosperity through expansion and conquest. They extend their territory amongst the stars to earn themselves more resources. If they encounter another civilization in space, they will try to make them their friends... if that fails they have in the past disdained the choice of allowing neutrality in order to forcefully annex that other civilization... especially if that culture worked on values the Yamataian explorers found reprehensible.

Politically in the eye of interfaction dealings, Yamatai is very, very prone to gunboat diplomacy; they have a strong military, they know it, they are proud of it... and because they have a strong military they rarely see the need to compromise or play second fiddle to anyone else. This unfortunately paints the nation - to the surprise of some of its citizen when news gets back to them - into an interstellar bully run by tyrants. The latest ruler, Empress Himiko, has gone to lengths to try and repair the Yamataian nation's brimmed reputation.

Does that make Yamatai much different? Better? That's in the eye of the beholder, I guess. I've heard one person condemn Himiko for being too soft, another commenting on how Himiko's efforts aren't genuine so much as she agrees with how things were done previously and that she is a manipulator of popular opinion.

Regardless, Wes thinks the world of Yamatai and he's heavily invested in its ruling family and it's militant practices so I'm fairly certain reading up so far would have him frown and inwardly bristle. Sorry man, but this is my opinion. ^_^;

Now, as far as being a doctor in the Star Army goes, it's best to remember that you'll have a character in an institution that is willing to commit 'evil' in order to safeguard the empire (evil being relative to my perspective - sorry). If doing your duty means blowing up the face of an irritating diplomat that doesn't know his place, spacing a capture UOC soldier or bombing the surface of a recalcitrant planet that won't join your righteous nation (and thus is potentially an enemy) with deadly pathogens... so be it. It's all done so that your nation and those you care about remain prosperous and safe. What could be more honorable than fighting for family and kin?

And those others you help trample? Well, better them than your nation, right?

(I'm not being sarcastic. Just figurative.)

Your doctor will likely mesh best if he doesn't come to grip with his conscience on a Yamataian plotship. They just don't have quite the same values so it'd probably be best not to go in conflict there. What conflict I've seen, from other characters, usually didn't turn out well.

 

[Anfortas]

Note to self: Yamatai is Early Showa period Japan....IN SPACE!

All joking aside thank you for the perspective as well as the advice regarding the type of conflict to put in the character. Fortunately I was planning on a more "conflicting promises" type of conflict rather than one of conscience so that's one bullet dodged at least. Call me a masochist, but I always find that some sort of conflict makes a character more human and interesting to write regardless of how well it turns out for them. (OK so maybe I'm a bit of a sadist too then...)

As for doctor's oaths not being brought up before, even in real life there are medical schools that don't administer any sort of oath to graduates so it could be something like that. I simply wanted to know if there was a pre-existing oath here since that oath would be a central part of the character. And since there doesn't appear to be a pre-existing one, what should I use and how should I reference it? Should I put the oath I have been using in a character notes section on their wiki page? Or perhaps make a thread to suggest it in the appropriate forum?

 

[Wes]

If you want to write one of have your character write one, I don't see anything wrong with that. Heck, other characters and organizations may even adopt it.

 

[Fred]

Just keep things in perspective.

If those oaths will prevent you from accompagnying a group of soldiers because 'thy shalt do no harm', expect to stay cooped up someplace safe... and probably boring while others get to kick some tail (a.k.a. action).

Likewise, if you have a vow to not use firearms and end up in a pitted firefight and refuse to contribute with anything else than your fists... expect to have eyerolls. The one crewmember I remember doing that ended up hurt, and shipped out because 'she didn't belong'.

 

[Anfortas]

Perfectly valid concerns. Certainly that could be the case depending on the interpretation of the oath. I know that in RL militaries at least medics generally do not fire weapons save for self defense, lest they sacrifice their "shooting at me is a war crime" status. Shouldn't be too much of a problem here I imagine considering the Mishu's nature. It simply means I will need to get creative to work around potential problems.

Taking your situations as examples: Regardless of their combatant status, having a medic accompanying a squad of soldiers would tactically wise, most especially for longer term missions as that would allow emergency treatment to be performed that much more swiftly.

Also, in the case of a fire-fight, there is nothing preventing a medic who must "do no harm" from providing suppressive fire, which isn't intended to actually hit an enemy in the first place, to allow allies to flank an enemy position. Or throwing a flash-bang grenade to disorient enemy troops. Or disabling enemy equipment or communications. Et cetera, et cetera.

All these gray areas make for the character to have an interesting source of conflict, especially if other characters disagree on the interpretation, providing food for interaction.