How I Doctor with Dr. Graham Walker Should Doctors Unionize? The Story of Why Physicians at Salem Hospital Joined a Union to Take Back Power with Dr. Sean Codier
We're releasing a Physicians AI Whitepaper and need your help!
Calling all MDs: Help us shape the future of what AI looks like in medicine. Participate Here!
Dr. Sean Codier is an emergency physician at Salem Hospital within Mass General Brigham and one of the leaders behind the first successful physician unionization effort in the system’s history. What started as frustration over understaffing, overcrowding, and a lack of voice in patient-care decisions grew into a movement that’s now inspiring doctors nationwide to organize for change.
In this episode of How I Doctor, Dr. Graham Walker talks with Dr. Codier about why more physicians are turning to unions as their only legal avenue to force real dialogue with hospital leadership. They discuss how the corporatization of medicine has stripped doctors of autonomy, the myths administrators use to discourage organizing, and what it actually looks like to form and run a physician union. Dr. Codier also shares the personal risks, lessons learned, and why he believes reclaiming physicians’ collective voice is essential to protecting both the profession and the patients we serve.
This episode is a candid look at how medicine reached this crossroads and asks whether the future of physician advocacy depends on this form of collective power.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why more physicians are unionizing and what that process really involves.
- The biggest myths hospitals spread about unions — and what’s actually true.
- The personal and professional risks of organizing inside large health systems.
- Whether unionization is a long-term solution to help physicians reclaim medicine’s moral core.
🩺 Offcall is more than a platform — it’s a community. Join today!
📝 For a full transcript of this episode click HERE
🎧 Subscribe to receive new How I Doctor episodes directly in your feed here: https://episodes.fm/1767429315
👨⚕️Follow Dr. Graham Walker on
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/graham-walker-md/
IG https://www.instagram.com/ubergraham/
Bluesky https://bsky.app/profile/drgrahamwalker.com
✉️ Join our newsletter On/Offcall here https://offcall.beehiiv.com/subscribe
🟧 Follow Offcall on
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/joinoffcall/
IG https://www.instagram.com/offcalldotcom/
TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@offcalldotcom
Mentioned in this episode:
We're releasing a Physicians AI Whitepaper and need your help!
Calling all MDs: Help us shape the future of what AI looks like in medicine. Participate Here! https://tally.so/r/n0pxeN