What is the veterinarian oath?

In her work on the Ebola virus, Nancy Jaax struggles with a conflict between her duty as a scientist and her sense of morality as a veterinarian. In order to progress in her research, Nancy must work directly with monkeys that are suffering and will likely die, but this is in direct opposition to her duty to ease the suffering of animals. Ultimately, Nancy must accept that her priority is to save human lives, and the suffering of these animals may lead to a vaccine or even cure for Ebola.

In taking the veterinarian's oath, she had pledged herself to a code of honor that bound her to the care of animals but also bound her to the saving of human lives through medicine. At times in her work, those two ideals clashed.