In the midst of the Covid-19 crisis, medical professionals are being honored for their sacrifice and significance in this season. Some doctors are pointing to Joseph Campbell in order to help others better understand their heroic work and the journey they often find themselves on.  Steven Moffic, MD states in his article “How to Be a Hero in the Coronavirus Generation” for the Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Learning Network, “The most well-known writer on heroism has been Joseph Campbell, exemplified best by one of his many books, The Hero with a Thousand Faces.” Moffic goes to to describe Campbell’s monomyth through the lens of a healthcare professional. “Sometimes, in real life, the heroic act condenses Campbell’s stages into a brief moment of rescuing someone in a fire or the like. Though that can seem almost reflexive, most stand by and do nothing,” Moffic says. To read the complete version of Moffic’s article, click here.

In an editorial for The British Medical Journal, Dr. Mary Higgins, an obstetrician working in Dublin, also points to Campbell and The Hero with a Thousand Faces, as she describes new doctors joining seasoned healthcare professionals in the fight against Covid-19. Higgins states, “They will join us as we all one by one Cross the Rubicon…where the hero leaves the “normal world” and crosses a threshold where they will meet trials and failures, grow with new skills, have a revelation that will change them, atone them and they will return changed.” To read Higgins full editorial, click here.