The American Medical Association’s House of Delegates has adopted policy classifying moral injury as a “distinct and significant threat” to the well-being of physicians, residents and medical students, according to a Nov. 9 news release shared with Becker’s.
The policy defines moral injury as harm that occurs when systemic constraints force health professionals to witness or act in ways that conflict with their moral beliefs and professional obligations, including being unable to deliver evidence-based, equitable and patient-centered care. The AMA distinguishes moral injury from burnout, which involves emotional exhaustion, and from moral distress. Moral injury can result when those conflicts persist and erode a physician’s sense of meaning and professional integrity. The policy directs the AMA to develop recommendations for addressing moral injury and moral distress across the profession.
“When those barriers repeatedly conflict with physicians’ professional values, that harm can contribute to physicians reducing their hours, leaving positions or training programs, or exiting practice altogether,” AMA Board Secretary Pauline P. Huynh, MD, said in the release.
The AMA adopted the policy during its policymaking meeting in Orlando, Fla.
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