Wendy Dean, MD - Moral Injury Of Healthcare
Offering concrete examples of transforming medicine to support both the healers and those they serve, If I Betray These Words profiles clinicians nationwide who embody toughness, resourcefulness, and resilience. Yet, these dedicated professionals feel ensnared between the patient-centered values enshrined in their Hippocratic oath and the relentless business demands of a fractured healthcare system.
Doctors who advocate fiercely for their patients and uphold their oath face severe consequences—they risk losing their medical licenses, their livelihoods, and, in some cases, even their lives. This harsh reality fuels a growing crisis known as moral injury: a deep psychological distress experienced when clinicians know exactly what patients need but are powerless to provide it due to systemic constraints driven by profit and bureaucracy.
Moral injury in healthcare workforce distress was already critical well before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the pandemic brutally exposed the fragility of our healthcare infrastructure and made it impossible to overlook the profound suffering among providers. Since 2020, one in five American healthcare workers has left the profession, with projections indicating that up to 47% of U.S. healthcare workers plan to leave their positions by 2025.
If I Betray These Words sheds light on the origins, manifestations, and far-reaching impact of moral injury, while highlighting the courageous individuals standing up to this systemic failure. The urgent need for a better healthcare system—for both patients and the workforce—is undeniable. The time to act is now.
Dr. Dean has spent her career at the intersection of medicine, business, and courageous creativity.
Dr. Dean was a practicing psychiatrist, Department of Defense medical innovation lead, and Senior Vice President of Operations for a $500M international non-profit before cofounding Moral Injury of Healthcare. Dr. Dean is widely published in well-respected peer-reviewed medical journals, and is recognized as a thought leader in workforce distress. She is the author of, If I Betray These Words: Moral Injury In Medicine and Why It’s So Hard For Clinicians to Put Patients First, and cohost of the podcasts, 43cc and Moral Matters.
Dr. Dean’s focus now is on finding innovative ways to make medicine better for both patients and clinicians.
