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In this short poem, a physician processes the dilemma of caring for patients who won’t take advice when it comes to vaccination.
Fam Pract Manag. 2022;29(1):36A
Author disclosure: no relevant financial relationships.
![Syringe sitting over a huge red question mark on blue background, Horizontal composition with copy space. Great use for concepts related to warnings and side effects of vaccines.](/content/dam/brand/aafp/pubs/fpm/issues/2022/0100/oa1.jpg)
Patients I have known for many years
Have treated them and their families
We have bonded in what is a true "patient-doctor" relationship
Here is my dilemma —
I have asked myself often
How should I feel when my patients say they will not get the vaccine?
I pause to think
I feel helplessness
I feel frustration
I do not feel anger or dislike
I tell them my thoughts and evidence-based belief
I try my best to convince them
And then … I let it go ...
As I drive home
A thought stays with me:
Do I stop feeling affection for the patient?
No! I cannot do that
I am sure my colleagues feel this way
We are all helpless
We have no solution
Just want these difficult days to pass.