Opinion: Professionalism drives health care workers to treat patients with Covid-19. We mustn’t jeopardize it
Why would a slight, 79-year-old physician-scientist stand up to a volatile, combative President Trump on national television? Here’s a related question: Why do millions of health care workers — doctors, nurses, emergency responders, aides, transport specialists, and more — risk their lives every day to care for those with Covid-19, a potentially deadly infection?
Personal courage is part of the explanation. But there’s more to it than that. What we are seeing is the professionalism of people like Anthony Fauci and thousands of health care workers at work. The essence of their professionalism is that they put the interests of patients and the public before their own.
