The last decade since the birth of the iPhone and social media, has seen the rise of a new phenomenon in medicine: The Physician-Activist. On many levels, this has been good to see. Nothing can be more heartening than to see doctors advocating for their patients and promoting health and healing. However, in line with the general polarization that currently exists in the United States (and this is actually not unique to America), we are now witnessing a new line being crossed. One that is actually detrimental to the medical community and will backfire on us. This represents the blending of politics with the practice of medicine, and is a fundamentally precarious position for doctors to put themselves in.

An article was recently published by a practicing physician that advocated for doctors talking politics with their patients in the exam room—especially if they felt that they were not aware of the potential healthcare implications of their vote. You can read the piece here. The article was widely circulated online and garnered a fair bit of attention. Similar opinion pieces by practicing physicians are increasingly being published—especially in the run up to the election.

Last week, the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, published an Op-Ed encouraging people to vote out the current administration. It was signed by the editors, and was a first in their 200-year history. A foolish thing to do, and more importantly—an ineffective thing to do.

Perhaps my position as an Independent voter allows me to see this in a non-partisan way. Doctors are allowed to have political opinions as private citizens. That’s okay and to be encouraged. Feel free to blog about whatever you like or make TV appearances that make very obvious your political affiliation and bias. If an individual at the New England Journal wanted to write their own opinion piece, that’s also fair enough. But an editorial crosses a line, and it’s a shame that a medical journal that I thought so highly of, felt the need to do that. It may have pleased people who already agreed with them, and led to a lot of buzz in online medical professional echo-chambers—but I can’t imagine Bill and Sue, sitting on their kitchen table in the rust belt Midwest, suddenly deciding to vote a certain way because the New England Journal told them to. In fact, I can only see it emboldening people who were already distrustful of establishment sources. On a purely factual level though, the op-ed made no mention whatsoever of the fact that almost every country in the world is struggling enormously with COVID-19 and death rates are actually way lower in the US than many European countries. They could have absolutely pointed out any specific mistakes they believed have been made in the federal response—and left it at that. Stay in your lane and let your intelligent readership decide for themselves.

Physicians are a unique group of people with a unique job role. I remember after the general election in the United Kingdom a year ago, when the party that medical professionals were supporting en-masse, ended up being trounced—a friend of mine put things very well, when he said that doctors are used to just giving orders all day and expecting that their patients (and staff) will follow what they say. When they enter the political arena, they often react with horror and are somewhat shocked to see they can’t get their way, and people have their own opinions and reasons for doing things.

Doctor, whether your patient is a Trump-Lover or Biden-Lover, it is your job to take good care of them and address their health needs. Concentrate on being a good physician. Don’t assume that your patients are stupid or unintelligent, and can’t weight up the consequences of their decisions—and require you to tell them who to vote for. If your patients want your opinions, they will ask for them. But keep politics out of the damn exam room. And out of the medical journal editorials.

Suneel Dhand is a physician, writer, and YouTuber. He is Co-Founder at DocsDox. Follow him at Medstoic Lifestyle Medicine on YouTube and Instagram.