A doctor organization is a professional medical association that represents physicians in an effort to promote high standards in education, science and ethics. It works to defend the interests of its members and protect the public health. Many medical associations are also labor organizations that seek to extend worker voice by negotiating with employers on behalf of their members.

The New York Times recently published an article that highlighted the growing worker consciousness among doctors who have been feeling smothered by the management-labor hierarchy that has become the norm for the healthcare industry. Increasingly, these doctors who work in hospitals, clinics, emergency rooms and even their own private practices are finding themselves at odds with their employers. With a union density of only 5-7% in the private sector, it has been difficult for them to achieve the collective power that can make a difference.

This has given rise to a new wave of worker militancy in the profession that was once thought to be immune from the problems faced by other workers. Instead of being seen as a threat, this new movement ought to be viewed as an opportunity to extend worker voice in a field where it has never been heard. It is impossible to resolve the issues driving militancy system-by-system, facility-by-facility or negotiation-by-negotiation; they will have to be addressed as a whole in a manner that addresses the underlying issues.

Medical workers are in a unique position to address these broader issues because of their ability to provide care to the most marginalized and vulnerable people in society. However, they can only do this if they have the means to speak up and act. This is why it is important for them to organize.

Doctors have a long history of working in close collaboration with each other, and with their patients. They have also fought for the rights of marginalized and oppressed peoples throughout history. The American Medical Association (AMA) was founded in 1847 to promote and protect the interests of physicians. It was a powerful political lobbying group that had the force to determine medical policy for America. At that time, membership in the AMA was restricted to whites only. It was only after a number of black physicians sought admission that it decided to allow them.

The Ninth Doctor and his crew, Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness, worked with UNIT in the Titan Comics Nine Doctor storyline in the 1970’s when rival anti-alien organization Avalon Defence tried to smear the reputation of UNIT. They were able to expose the deceptions of Avalon by working with UNIT nurse Tara Misha. This is similar to the real world example of a multi-ethnic team of doctors working with the International Committee of Medical Aid to Human Beings (Médecins Sans Frontières, MSF) in the mid-1970’s during the Biafran famine in Nigeria. It was only by bringing together these disparate groups of doctors that they were able to save the lives of thousands of people in the region.