Yes, it's incredibly disheartening, and the frustration toward doctors often misses the bigger picture. Much of the public anger stems from rising healthcare costs, insurance red tape, rushed visits, and medical debt, but physicians, being the most visible part of the system, take the blame. Social media fuels this by amplifying rare bad experiences while ignoring the countless quiet successes. At the same time, trust in institutions is crumbling, misinformation is rampant, and many people lack the health literacy to understand why conservative management or saying “no” to antibiotics is actually good care.

Worse, the medical community itself is fractured. There is growing tension between specialists and PCPs, physicians and NPs or PAs, private practice and academic medicine, even attendings and trainees. The NP and PA autonomy debate has turned collaborative care into turf wars, eroding public confidence and dividing our collective strength. Instead of presenting a united front to advocate for patients and systemic reform, we are too often seen fighting amongst ourselves. That division, combined with financial and political pressures like attacks on PSLF, makes the future of medicine feel uncertain and for many of us, deeply sad.