Physicians Are Feeling Betrayed. How Do We Protect Our Peace When Healthcare Is Under Siege?

Medicine is a calling. We dedicate our lives to it. We sacrifice sleep, time with loved ones, and often, our own well-being to uphold the oath we took.

Right now, many physicians feel profoundly betrayed.

The current public health and political landscape disregards scientific evidence, dismisses our expertise, and erodes trust in the very foundations of medicine.

Public health initiatives are being dismantled. Physicians are being told how to practice medicine by those with no medical training. The profession we poured our hearts into feels under siege.

For many, this moment is triggering PTSD from the early pandemic days—the chaos, the uncertainty, the feeling of powerlessness in the face of crisis.

We are once again being asked to do more with less, to carry the weight of decisions we did not make, and to navigate a system that seems indifferent to the toll it takes on us.

Once again, we feel exhausted, out of control, and disrespected.

It Feels Personal, But We Can’t Take It Personally

I hear it in coaching, at retreats, and in hospitals across the country—the same frustration, exhaustion, and heartbreak.

It feels like an attack on the value of medicine, the sanctity of vaccines, and the foundation of public health.

It feels like an attack on the humans we love.

And yet, taking it personally drains us.

We take it personally because we have given everything to this profession. We expect policymakers to share our values.

Right now, it appears they don’t.

It is infuriating. It is reasonable to be angry.

For a time.

What Happens After the Anger?

If we stay in rage, betrayal, and exhaustion, we lose our ability to respond effectively.

This is where perpetual creative response comes in—a concept I learned from Martha Beck.

It is the ability to respond strategically, sustainably, and intentionally—rather than reactively and emotionally.

It is not about ignoring the issues.

It is about choosing to act with calm and clarity instead of reactivity.

What Is Our Job Right Now?

Physicians feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility.

We feel it is our duty to protect the health of our country, fight against injustice, and take a stand.

But expecting ourselves to fix everything is an impossible and unreasonable burden.

So what is our job right now?

• To model calm and perpetual creative response.
• To resist catastrophizing and doomsday thinking.
• To focus on what we can control.
• To be strategic.

We don’t know what’s coming. We don’t have to assume it will all be okay.

We also don’t have to assume disaster is inevitable.

If things unfold in the worst possible way, what will we wish we had done today?

Wasted our energy on worry and panic?

Or taken care of ourselves, grieved for a moment, gathered data, and conserved our energy so we can respond strategically?

Individually, we feel powerless. Collectively, we have immense influence.

We control the conversations we have with our patients—especially about vaccines. We control whether we conserve or deplete our emotional and physical energy. We control when and how we choose to respond, advocate, and take a stand.

Our collective strength will likely be needed—and when that time comes, we will be more effective if we are not exhausted, cynical, and feeling ineffectual.

Healthy Boundaries Keep the Good In

Patients are scared. They feel powerless. They are reactive.

Many are pushing harder, demanding more, and expecting immediate solutions—not because they are difficult, but because they are afraid.

As physicians, we are absorbing more patient fear, frustration, and emotional urgency than ever before.

If we don’t set firm boundaries, that fear will consume us.

Our role is to care—but not to self-sacrifice.

We are not responsible for fixing a broken system or taking on the entire emotional weight of our patients.

That weight is simply too heavy.

Boundaries don’t mean caring less—they allow us to care more and longer.

Vaccine Hesitancy and the Art of Not Taking It Personally

Few things in pediatrics feel as personal as vaccine refusal. It can feel like a rejection of science, public health, and our very profession.

Patients who refuse vaccines are also scared. Their refusal isn’t an attack on us—it’s a reflection of fear, misinformation, and mistrust.

These conversations are not a battle to be won. Instead, when we provide clear, evidence-based guidance in a way that is calm, concise, and confident we save our energy for where we can make an impactful difference. When we offer a strong recommendation and they decline, we document it and move on, we are choosing where to invest our emotional energy.

This doesn’t mean we don’t care. It means we are protecting our ability to continue advocating for vaccines without burning ourselves out in the process.

Boundaries are not unkind—They are necessary. Patients are pushing harder because they feel powerless. They are demanding more because they are afraid. If we take on every patient’s fear, suffering, and battle as our own, we will break.

What’s Happening in Medicine is a Reflection of What’s Happening in the World

Many of the struggles showing up in our country right now mirror what we have been facing in medicine for years.

Decisions are being made for reasons far beyond the individual experiences of physicians, patients, or clinics. We feel unheard, unseen, and unvalued. It feels personal.

Both situations require us to pause, breathe, rest, and restore.

We can then choose with intention to focus on what’s in our control—how we choose to respond.

We can choose how we care for ourselves, our families, and our patients. We can choose the stories we tell about the situation, how and when we advocate, and how and when we rest.

We Will Need Healthy and Whole Physicians to Move Forward

What we need now isn’t more sacrifice. It’s not more exhaustion. We need healthy, whole, grounded physicians to find the creative responses forward.

Your well-being isn’t selfish—it’s an essential investment in the future of medicine.

Your loved ones, your patients, and our collective societal health are worth it.

If this resonates, let’s continue the conversation. How are you protecting your peace right now?