Sargsyan A.M. Traumatic Experience of Russian Medical Workers: Surviving the COVID‐19 Pandemic in the Context of the Ethics of Medical Duty. Chelovek. 2026. Vol. 37. No. 1. Pp. 34–51.

Abstract

The COVID‑19 pandemic in 2020–2021 has fundamentally changed people’s daily lives, disrupted familiar social connections and communications, and changed the strategy for implementing professional activities. Although these changes were significant for a limited period, the pandemic still had a serious impact on many institutions, social groups, values, and norms. First of all, it is worth noting the social group of doctors and medical personnel (nurses, orderlies, etc.) who were at the forefront of the fight against the COVID‑19 pandemic and demonstrated examples of courage and self-denial traditionally inherent in Russian medicine. This article attempts to analyze the key moral and ethical categories for the medical community in the context of the ethics of duty. The aim of the article is to determine the role of moral and ethical dominants in the behavior of the medical community during and after the COVID‑19 pandemic, their role and significance for group consolidation and overcoming collective trauma. It is concluded that the reason for the successful post-traumatic adaptation of doctors, which allows them to return to the traumatic experience in order to learn lessons to prevent new epidemics, is directly related to a sense of duty fulfilled and awareness of their socially significant role in the fight against the COVID‑19 pandemic.