Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Getting vaccinated as a gift to others

Joseph Fennelly, MD
Physician
October 5, 2021
Share
Tweet
Share

The anti-vaccine movement has led to a profound increase in disease and deaths, overtaxed hospitals, and drastically marginalized care for others with serious illnesses. This reality reflects a more profound cultural problem in our country. Namely the need for more innovative and creative ways to rediscover our obligation to each other to get vaccinated and to follow the best that science can offer.

No longer do we share what Alexis de Tocqueville, a French political philosopher, best known for his two volumes “Democracy in America,” wrote that through associating for a mutual purpose, both in public and private, Americans can overcome selfish desires, thus making both a self-conscious and active political society and a vibrant civil society functioning according to political and civil laws of the state. Sadly, this pandemic has shown that we no longer share this “mutual purpose” or commitment to others.

To whom can we look for models of service and action through which to rediscover our interdependence and our willingness to accept our responsibilities to each other?

The oaths and deeds of the medical profession can be a frame of reference. Examining the health care providers’ fealty to their patients writ large may help heal a fragmented body politic.

In the 1960s, Dr. Louis Lasagna’s, an American physician and professor of medicine known for his revision of the Hippocratic oath, added to that pledge: “I will remember that I remain a member of society, with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body, as well as the infirm.”

It is important to stress that when health professions treat individuals through their technologies and technics and offer their personal health and their life to the cause of serving and saving others, they “gift” themselves to others. Viewing the profession of medicine through this lens suggests that medicine is a spiritual calling.

The poet David Whyte in his book, Consolations writes: “Giving has an enormous horizon and a breath that is hard to compass. It is both a practicality — it creates bonds and dependencies necessary to our communal well-being — and an essentially, the essence of giving being that the other person is simply alive, and by corollary, not only a privilege to know, but a living privilege themselves …”

The poet continues: “Giving means paying attention and creating imaginative contact with the one to whom we are giving; it is a form of attention itself, a way of acknowledging and giving thanks for lives other than our own.”

The decision to ignore preventive measures results in chaos within the larger community, including the medical system. It causes health professionals and laypersons alike to suffer from moral injury.  In contrast, giving spreads like a gentle west wind. It diffuses throughout society and becomes a widespread habit, a habit of the heart. It is born of both altruism and a social obligation to help one’s neighbor, one’s community, society, and the entire world.

The challenge is that giving the gift of one’s decision to vaccinate for oneself and others requires an act of the will. It requires faith that one’s willingness to be vaccinated regardless of all the risks inherent in this action will be a contribution to the community. It means deciding to surrender the myth of individual freedom, it means to risk an untoward reaction, and it means that we may appear to embrace or betray one political belief system over another.

In his book, The Magic of Ritual: Our Need for Liberating Rites that Transform Our Lives and Our Communities, theologian and anthropologist Tom F. Driver argues that new actions on a societal level begin by process of “ritualization.” Rituals and traditions result from repetition and modeling. To call upon the better angels of our nature, we need to develop service rituals, giving, and gifting, much like those expressed in the medical profession’s oath. In so doing, we may offer a formidable advance toward healing our broken society through rediscovering and sanctifying service to others.

Joseph Fennelly is an internal medicine physician. 

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

ADVERTISEMENT

Prev

The needs of Afghan refugee children must be prioritized in evacuation and resettlement plans 

October 5, 2021 Kevin 0
…
Next

Pink ribbons and murder boobs

October 5, 2021 Kevin 1
…

Tagged as: COVID, Infectious Disease

Post navigation

< Previous Post
The needs of Afghan refugee children must be prioritized in evacuation and resettlement plans 
Next Post >
Pink ribbons and murder boobs

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Joseph Fennelly, MD

  • Taking courage to heart and to the heart of medicine

    Joseph Fennelly, MD
  • I had to be there for this patient’s last breath

    Joseph Fennelly, MD

Related Posts

  • How to get patients vaccinated against COVID-19 [PODCAST]

    The Podcast by KevinMD
  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • How a physician keynote can highlight your conference

    Kevin Pho, MD
  • Chasing numbers contributes to physician burnout

    DrizzleMD
  • The black physician’s burden

    Naomi Tweyo Nkinsi
  • Why this physician supports Medicare for all

    Thad Salmon, MD

More in Physician

  • WeightWatchers shifts to value-based care with GLP-1 strategy

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Meeting transgender patients where they are: a health care imperative

    Tyler B. Evans, MD, MPH
  • Why rigorous training is vital for today’s surgeons

    Philip Alford, MD
  • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

    Ryan Nadelson, MD
  • Why enterprise risk management is key to value-based health care success

    Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD
  • Rethinking physician resilience for sustainable well-being

    Sarah Webber, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • High blood pressure’s hidden impact on kidney health in older adults

      Edmond Kubi Appiah, MPH | Conditions
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • WeightWatchers shifts to value-based care with GLP-1 strategy

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • How reforming insurance, drug prices, and prevention can cut health care costs

      Patrick M. O'Shaughnessy, DO, MBA | Policy
    • New treatments for enlarged prostate offer faster relief with fewer side effects

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • Meeting transgender patients where they are: a health care imperative

      Tyler B. Evans, MD, MPH | Physician
    • How to break the cycle of judgment in medicine [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How value-based care transforms chronic kidney disease management

      Timothy Pflederer, MD | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The shocking risk every smart student faces when applying to medical school

      Curtis G. Graham, MD | Physician
    • Harassment and overreach are driving physicians to quit

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • Why so many doctors secretly feel like imposters

      Ryan Nadelson, MD | Physician
    • High blood pressure’s hidden impact on kidney health in older adults

      Edmond Kubi Appiah, MPH | Conditions
    • Why peer support can save lives in high-pressure medical careers

      Maire Daugharty, MD | Conditions
    • The physician who turned burnout into a mission for change

      Jessie Mahoney, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Who gets to be well in America: Immigrant health is on the line

      Joshua Vasquez, MD | Policy
    • Here’s what providers really need in a modern EHR

      Laura Kohlhagen, MD, MBA | Tech
  • Recent Posts

    • WeightWatchers shifts to value-based care with GLP-1 strategy

      Olumuyiwa Bamgbade, MD | Physician
    • How reforming insurance, drug prices, and prevention can cut health care costs

      Patrick M. O'Shaughnessy, DO, MBA | Policy
    • New treatments for enlarged prostate offer faster relief with fewer side effects

      Martina Ambardjieva, MD, PhD | Conditions
    • Meeting transgender patients where they are: a health care imperative

      Tyler B. Evans, MD, MPH | Physician
    • How to break the cycle of judgment in medicine [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • How value-based care transforms chronic kidney disease management

      Timothy Pflederer, MD | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...