A record number of physicians are running for office in the 2026 election cycle, a trend that David Oxman, MD, wrote is prompting questions about the evolving role of physicians in American public life.
In the Viewpoint, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, Dr. Oxman wrote that political commentators have dubbed 2026 the “Year of the Doctor.” Although physicians have long participated in politics, he noted that the number of medically trained candidates running for Congress this year suggests physician-politicians are “having a moment.”
Oxman wrote that physicians enter politics with a public-trust advantage. They consistently rank among the most trusted professions in the US and are often viewed as compassionate, practical, ethical, and equipped with skills relevant to governance, including analytic thinking, comfort with technical complexity, and experience making high-stakes decisions.
Still, physicians remain underrepresented in US government compared with lawyers, Oxman noted. He wrote that the 119th Congress includes 20 physician members and 184 lawyers. He contrasted that with Singapore, China, and several Western European countries, where physicians and scientists hold more prominent government roles, although the reasons for those differences are unclear.
Physician-candidates may be drawn to politics by issues related to medical practice, including payment models, malpractice reform, scope of practice, and health care system dysfunction, Oxman wrote. Others may be motivated by broader policy concerns, including economic issues or foreign policy. He also noted that physician-politicians are no more immune than other candidates to personal ambition, the desire for attention, or the pursuit of power.
In the current election cycle, Oxman wrote, physician-candidates have cited health care crises as major motivations for running, including reduced access to reproductive care, Medicaid funding reductions, cuts to enhanced Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act subsidies, biomedical research cuts, vaccine misinformation, and threats to public health infrastructure.
For some physician-candidates, Oxman wrote, seeking office may reflect an ethical duty to participate in activities that advance the community and public health. Physicians see the downstream effects of political failures in patients’ experiences with health insurance, gun violence, and income inequality, he wrote. In that context, he noted, calls for physicians to “stay in their lane” have increasingly been met with the response: “This is my lane.”
The Viewpoint also emphasized risks. Oxman wrote that, in a polarized era, greater visibility of physicians in partisan politics raises the question of whether more physicians in elected office will elevate public confidence in government or diminish public trust in medicine.
The moral authority of medicine depends not only on scientific expertise but also on the perception that physicians are impartial and separate from political conflict, Oxman wrote. As more physicians enter electoral politics, he cautioned, the perceived boundary between independent science and partisan politics may erode.
Oxman wrote that physician-candidates should be mindful of this tension. Like veterans who invoke military service in campaigns, physicians who run for office draw on the public trust attached to their profession, he noted. Although physicians have a responsibility to use their expertise to advocate for patients and public health, he wrote that they should be honest with themselves and the public about when nonpartisan advocacy becomes political positioning.
Physician-candidates may also face practical burdens, including public scrutiny, reputational attacks, financial strain, changes in how patients perceive them, and tensions within medical practices, hospitals, or academic institutions seeking to remain apolitical.
As a Viewpoint, the article did not report original research methods, effect-size estimates, subgroup analyses, or statistical limitations.
Oxman concluded that the current wave of physician-candidates is unlikely to be temporary because health care remains central to political debate and many voters are dissatisfied with traditional political figures and institutions. Many physician-candidates, he wrote, are drawn to politics by the same impulses that drew them to medicine: service, problem-solving, and a belief that collective action can improve lives.
The Viewpoint closed with Rudolf Virchow’s observation that “politics is nothing more than medicine on a larger scale.”
Disclosures: Disclosure forms are available with the article online. Oxman is an intensive care physician and former Congressional candidate.
Source: Annals of Internal Medicine
