My Inaugural Video, Oath, and Theme Song

Author(s):

H. Steven Moffic, MD

Key Takeaways

H. Steven Moffic emphasizes the importance of ethical oaths in psychiatry, highlighting responsibilities to patients and society.
He introduces a personal oath for his video series, "Psychiatry & Society," reflecting on societal conflicts.
Moffic, a retired psychiatrist, is recognized for his contributions to mental health advocacy and has received numerous awards.
He continues to influence the field through writing, speaking, and editing a book series on religions and psychiatry.

Did you watch the inauguration? What oaths do you personally take?

Psychiatry & Society

H. Steven Moffic, MD, ruminates on the inaugural celebration for President Trump. He comes up with his own oath for this video series:

I do solemnly affirm that I will faithfully execute the presentation of a video on psychiatry and society to the best of my ability, and in the process, try to reflect the basic ethical principles of being a physician and psychiatrist, which is found in our ethical principles preamble that I, quote, must recognize responsibilities to patients first and foremost as well as to society, to other health professionals, and to myself.

As to a theme song, he chose a song from "West Side Story," demonstrating the conflict, playfulness, and violence of our current times.

"Let's rededicate ourselves to reducing some of these social, psychiatric problems," said Moffic.

How important are oaths in psychiatry? Dr Moffic wrote about it in this week's column: Psychiatric Inaugurations.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He presented the third Rabbi Jeffrey B. Stiffman lecture at Congregation Shaare Emeth in St. Louis on Sunday, May 19, 2024. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.