Bust of Hippocrates (460-370 BC), Greek physician considered to be the father of medicine. His influence survives in the Hippocratic oath (a code of medical ethics) taken by medical students on completion of their training. Little is known about Hippocrates. He founded a medical school on the Aegean island of Cos, where his ideas on medical conduct and practice were implemented. He advocated a rational approach to medicine, believing that disease was caused by physical phenomenon and not by the interference of the gods. Engraving by P. Pontius after P.P. Rubens.