In 2014, Dr. Catherine Thomasson wrote regarding “Physicians’ Social Responsibility,” arguing that our duty extends beyond the biological management of disease.³ We have a responsibility for the health of society itself. Today, that responsibility requires us to act as intermediaries in an ideologically polarized world. We possess wisdom gained by our understanding of the universal human condition. We know, because we have seen it in the eyes of our patients, that the “united American” core still exists beneath the current political noise.

Therefore, this is a call to action for emergency physicians to voice this reality. We cannot remain silent observers of this false narrative of division. We are uniquely positioned to be a voice of unity in our hospitals and communities and a tool to combat the tribalism that has hurt our greater society and democracy. We must remind our communities that despite what the polls say, we are not “at war with each other.”

We must take the moral high ground we occupy, the ground of unconditional care, and use it to heal more than just injured bodies. We must help heal our broken civic trust. We have evidence that when the pretenses are stripped away, people bleed the same, cry the same tears, and care deeply for one another. It is time we share that evidence with a world desperate for unity and a path forward.

Let us lead by example, showing that while we may vote differently, we survive together. In the end, what divides us pales in comparison to what unites us.

Dr. David Benaron is assistant professor and vice chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Nevada, Reno.

References

1. Cross-Tabs: October 2025 Times/Siena Poll of Registered Voters. The New York Times. October 2, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/02/polls/times-siena-poll-registered-voter-crosstabs.html.
2. Peters JW, and Igielnik R. Most Voters Think America’s Divisions Cannot Be Overcome, Poll Says. The New York Times. October 2, 2025. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/02/us/politics/times-siena-poll-political-polarization.html.
3. Thomasson C. Physicians’ Social Responsibility. Virtual Mentor. 2014;16(9):753-757. doi:10.1001/virtualmentor.2014.16.9.oped1-1409.