One thing I am surprised about as I am in and out of hospitals and doctor’s offices around the Bay Area is how many people confuse the Rod of Asclepius with the Caduceus. There are a surprisingly large amount of hospitals and offices which display the wrong one!

This was even further brought to the forefront of my attention because I was in my boss’ office early this week and he and I were discussing medical symbol tattoos. I was surprised how many people we know get the “wrong” symbol tattoo’d on their body!

One is a medical symbol, and one is not. Did you know the difference?

Here is the Caduceus:

THE CADUCEUS IS NOT A MEDICAL SYMBOL!!
Per wiki:

“The caduceus is sometimes erroneously used as a symbol for medicine, especially in North America, due to confusion with the traditional medical symbol, the rod of Asclepius, which has only a single snake and no wings.”

Now, here is the “correct” medical symbol, the Rod of Asclepius:

To take things a step further, here is the EMS “Star of Life” which features the Rod of Asclepius:

I wonder why so many people and organizations tend confuse the two? It’s really not that hard to google the symbols and learn about their origins. Wouldn’t anyone want to do that due diligence before putting a symbol on their body for the rest of their life, or using it for the base of their organizational logo?!

Perhaps people just prefer the “fancier” design and look of the Caduceus, and don’t mind that it is not *technically* a medical symbol. I mean, a pair of feathery wings and double snake helix! Certainly far flashier than just a plain old wooden rod and one lousy snake!

If you want to explore further on these symbols, I suggest you read this writeup.
Also, here’s a fun thread of a bunch of hopeful medical students talking about the symbols and their desired tattoo designs. Many of them agree the caduceus looks cooler! Lol. A gem of a quote from that thread:

Yeah, the caduceus IS much better looking than the rod. But now I’m afraid of getting a caduceus tattoo.
Jerk pointing at my tatoo: “You know the caduceus doesn’t REALLY symbolize medicine.”
Me: “Yeah, I knew that.”
Jerk: “No you didn’t.”

Hee.

Anyways, food for thought. As someone contemplating some more ink in my future, I am happy I learned the differences in origins of both before making a rather permanent mistake!