Despite the medical necessity of the abortion, it was delayed and rescheduled twice that day because individual anesthesiologists, technicians, and nurses did not want to be involved in, what several called, “this kind of procedure.”

Like the pandemic, uncertainty, growing confidence, and the return of doubt come in waves. The Omicron variant is just the latest twist in this plot.

Empathy does not need to dissipate as we endure medical training. Both the pandemic and the national reckoning over racial injustice and police brutality have touched every aspect of life as we know it, and medical training and education have been no exception.

Every summer, our household lives through “the July effect.” The mate, an internist, spends extra time at teaching rounds with his brand new residents, hoping they will beat the odds...