“When docs strike, sufferers die.” That phrase—flattened into certainty—will get tossed round like an ethical verdict. It exhibits up in op-eds, remark threads, morning rounds. As if to say: there’s no argument. The matter’s settled. You swore an oath.
However what oath, precisely?
Most physicians are taught to revere the Hippocratic Oath, however few have learn the unique variations. It wasn’t common. It wasn’t sacred scripture. It forbade surgical procedure. It invoked Apollo and Asclepius. It requested for secrecy. It mirrored its time. And the well-known phrase—First, do no hurt—was by no means in it.
The closest Hippocrates got here was this line from Epidemics I: Ὠφελέειν ἢ μὴ βλάπτειν — To assist, or no less than to do no hurt. That’s not a prohibition. It’s a sequence. First, do good. And in case you can’t—then no less than don’t worsen issues.
However someplace alongside the best way, we reversed the order. We made warning the primary commandment, and assist a dangerous bonus. “First, do no hurt” turned a muzzle. One thing to wield towards protest. One thing to disgrace dissent.
And right here’s the deeper irony: many people by no means even took the Hippocratic Oath. I didn’t. And I do know I’m not alone. What we inherited as an alternative was the parable of the Oath—handed down extra by tradition than ceremony. A sort of sacred rumor. A narrative we have been purported to stay as much as, even when we by no means signed our title to it.
So let’s carry this again to the current.
A doctor strike is commonly condemned as a betrayal. However what if staying silent, staying current in a damaged system, causes the very hurt we fake to stop? What if persevering with to soak up ethical damage is the abandonment?
Think about the hospitalist on her fifth double shift, overlaying two companies. Or the agricultural ER doc managing 40 sufferers solo by way of the evening. Or the surgical workforce working with no scrub tech, once more. Are these acts of responsibility? Or acts of quiet complicity?
When the system itself turns into dangerous, “doing no hurt” begins to really feel like a harmful fantasy.
And right here’s the place Aristotle helps. Within the Nicomachean Ethics, he opens with this declare: Πᾶσα τέχνη καὶ πᾶσα μέθοδος… εἰς ἀγαθὸν τι τείνει — Each artwork and each inquiry, and equally each motion and pursuit, is believed to goal at some good.
Drugs, too, has an finish. A goal. The tip of drugs isn’t attendance. It isn’t paperwork. It isn’t the optics of professionalism. It isn’t revenue. The tip is therapeutic. The work is care. Not simply presence—however presence with integrity.
When physicians stroll out, particularly en masse, it isn’t sometimes for pay. Around the globe, they’ve struck for oxygen. For safety. For staffing. For the flexibility to care effectively. Not for private achieve—however as a result of one thing sacred is cracking. And somebody has to say so.
This isn’t about abandonment. It’s about warning. It’s about witnessing. Strikes might trigger disruption. However so does silence. So does acquiescence. And hurt deferred just isn’t hurt denied.
Some will say it’s hypocritical. That’s not hypocrisy. That’s remembering what the oath was actually for. Typically, the refusal to maintain going is the one approach to honor what drugs was purported to be.
Patrick Hudson is a retired plastic and hand surgeon, former psychotherapist, and creator. Skilled at Westminster Hospital Medical College in London, he practiced for many years in each the U.Okay. and the U.S. earlier than shifting his focus from surgical procedures to emotional restore—supporting physicians in navigating the hidden prices of their work and the quiet methods drugs reshapes id. Patrick is board-certified in each surgical procedure and training, a Fellow of the American Faculty of Surgeons and the Nationwide Anger Administration Affiliation, and holds superior levels in counseling, liberal arts, and well being care ethics.
By way of his nationwide teaching apply, CoachingforPhysicians.com, which he based, Patrick supplies 1:1 teaching and doctor management coaching for docs navigating advanced private {and professional} landscapes. He works with clinicians searching for readability, renewal, and deeper connection of their skilled lives. His focus consists of management growth and emotional intelligence for physicians who usually discover themselves in management roles they by no means deliberate for.
Patrick is the creator of the Teaching for Physicians collection, together with:
He additionally writes below CFP Press, a small imprint he based for reflective writing in drugs. To view his full catalog, go to his Amazon creator web page.
