"I swear by Apollo the physician that I will fulfil according to my ability and judgement, this oath and covenant." Thus begins the celebrated oath of Hippocrates, for thousands of years, the ethical standard and spiritual guide for practitioners of the medical profession. Louisa Alcott-Mandeville is a young doctor, and the oath is still fresh and inspiring. A framed copy of it hangs in her office where she looks at it from time to time, every day...