What does it mean to be human? What values should we live by? How should we respond to those in need during a time of crisis? What would I do? A physician during the Black Death. As a hospice social worker who loves the humanities, I find that historical figures often come to mind when there’s a parallel with things that are happening with patients and their families. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve been thinking a lot about a 14th century French physician named Guy de Chauliac. Although little known today, in his time he was one of Europe’s most respected medical practitioners. In fact, his text Chirurgia Magna was a standard part of medical education for 200 years. I came across de Chauliac’s story years ago while researching the ‘Black Death,’ the plague that decimated Europe in the 1340s, killing up to a third of its population. Those who have read Giovanni Boccaccio’s contemporary account of this plague in his work Decameron are often left with a cynical impression that, as Boccaccio puts it, “such fear and fanciful notions took possession of the living that almost all of them adopted the same cruel policy, which was to entirely avoid the sick and everything belonging to them.” Braving plague-ridden streets to serve the ill and study a disease. Living in Avignon at the time, de Chauliac is a prime example that there were many who, rather than run away from others who were infected, ran toward them. Rather than hide … Continue reading Moral Courage in a Pandemic: a 14th Century Physician and Health Care Workers Today