Medical Training in the Maelstrom: The Call to Physician Advocacy and Activism in Turbulent Times

In this Invited Commentary, the author probes current events overlapping with his early medical education for unwritten lessons. Today's generation of trainees studies the careful application of science to suffering in the roiling context of resurgent white supremacy, anti-immigrant hatred, climate disasters, contentious public health epidemics, and attacks on the structures undergirding access to health care for millions. The author reflects on the connections between sociopolitical events and his own experiences, as well as those of his classmates, friends, and family members. These experiences, he argues, have galvanized his and his fellow medical students' commitment to decency, truth, diversity, and equity. He concludes that, in the current climate, the practice of healing is inextricably tied to the social and political context, such that advocacy and activism have become essential to a career in medicine.