To the Editor:

Re “Illness, Panic and Courage: On the Virus’s Front Lines” (news article, March 31):

Military rhetoric in this and other articles is clouding the public’s understanding of what it is like to work in a hospital right now. Medical staff are not soldiers “fighting a war,” and we are not “in the trenches” or “on the front lines.” We did not sign up for this; unlike the military, medicine is not a career for which we ever expected to die.

Medical staff are being forced to work in extremely unsafe conditions. Furthermore, the burden of care often falls on the lowest-ranked workers. Resident physicians, for example, work 80 hours a week with one day off. Opportunities for residents are scarce outside of hospitals, so we cling to our jobs to avoid ruin.

Medical workers have already died in the United States, and more deaths are coming. We will be called “heroes” to hide the truth: We were killed on dangerous job sites.

Benjamin Morrison

Brooklyn

The writer is a resident physician at SUNY Downstate.

To the Editor:

Re “Doctors Are Writing Their Wills,” by Bari Weiss (Sunday Review, March 29):

I was struck by the bravery of doctors, nurses and all those who work to fight the virus. I was also struck with what feels like my utter uselessness in the face of this crisis.