Last month, they were cardiologists, pediatricians and surgeons. But America’s physicians have been redeployed. Staff members meeting to discuss I.C.U. patients at Brooklyn Hospital Center last week. We are America’s doctors, and we have been redeployed. Yesterday we were your pediatricians. Your cardiologists. Your surgeons. Today, we are all Covid-19 doctors. Your appointments are canceled, and our offices are closed. We’ve been called to the front lines. This is a global war, and we are the soldiers. The world is united against a common enemy — invisible, but deadly. There is still a lot we don’t know about it, but we’re learning more every hour. The rules of engagement change daily. Patients will die, and some of us will get hurt. Some of us have died. We have all heard horror stories about what is happening in New York hospitals. While it is real, I have also seen amazing displays of valor and sacrifice. And I have seen an unparalleled camaraderie. We inspire one another. Our loved ones are at home are cheering. We have been training for years. We have mastered our professions and continued to sharpen our skills. We have risen to countless challenges along the way. We have treated cancer, transplanted organs, mended hearts. We have saved lives. But this is different. Covid is different. Our enemy may have exposed our system’s vulnerability, but it has also revealed our strengths. As the pandemic progresses, we will have to make difficult decisions. Vital equipment may become scarce; medications may run out. But we will have an endless supply of compassion, an endless supply of understanding, an endless supply of support. We are not fighting this war alone. The true front-line troops are the nurses, the respiratory therapists and the physician assistants. They are at the highest risk of getting hurt in this war. We doctors will support them in every way we can. We will protect them with every means necessary. Without them, we cannot win this battle. We feel privileged to serve humanity in ways that others cannot. It is not in our nature to sit by idly in times like these. We understand that it must be frustrating to those of you who cannot help. We feel your love. We feel your support. We may not be able to hear your sunset clapping or your cheers on the street; the ringing of ventilators is all we hear. Yet when we walk home, we know you are behind us. To our families at home, we will miss dinner time, we will miss bath time and we will miss story time. We may spend weeks away from home to protect you from us. But you are in our hearts and you are on our minds. It is for you and our children that we fight this war. We will be the heroes our children will one day look up to. We cannot be more motivated. We thank you for your patience, we thank you for your sacrifice. We have lost some doctors already. These were our colleagues. These were our friends. It is in their name that we join this fight. It is in their name that we will win this fight. They will not be forgotten. They will not have died in vain. We will win this war. We are America’s doctors, and it’s our honor to be redeployed. Source
