Today was one of those surreal days attending Harvard Medical School’s Moral Leadership in Medicine symposium. Sitting in a room filled with leaders from some of the world’s top hospitals, I texted my wife that everyone was semi-famous in the medical world. One person introduced himself as another leader from Massachusetts General-Brigham, and I thought, of course you are.

The day opened with a lecture by Dr. Mathew Wynia titled The Short History and Tenuous Future of Medical Professionalism. He described medical professionalism as a social contract: society grants physicians privileges—like self-regulation—in exchange for prioritizing patient well-being. But that contract is under strain, especially from corporate interests in healthcare. As healthcare becomes more transactional, public trust in medicine erodes, and the social contract begins to fracture. 

We spent the day discussing two cases—one about physicians resisting corporate pressures and another about who decides when an abortion is medically necessary to save a mother’s life. These conversations weren’t intended to be political themselves but instead explore ethical challenges within an inherently political world.

At one point, a leader from the American Medical Association (AMA) seemed overtly partisan. So, somewhat nervously, I raised my hand and shared thoughts along these lines:

“I’m concerned when medical associations, like the AMA, appear to lose objectivity in favor of political advocacy. Physicians are professionals; we advocate for our patients, but we are not political actors. I worry when the AMA seems to represent ideologies over the interests of patients and physicians, and how this erodes public trust in medicine.”

At the reception, an intensivist thanked me for speaking up. We briefly discussed medical neutrality and the importance of representing all patients. Then the Director of the Center for Bioethics greeted me with a hug and thanked me for attending. Turns out that even semi-famous people give hugs. The day could not have ended better.