Dr. Travis Morrell

A self-proclaimed “lifelong learner to a fault,” Travis has completed medical training in five separate specialty departments, exposing him to a wide range of physician perspectives and patient needs. 

He’s worried about the changes in the profession that he’s observed over the years.

“When I was in school, we had four years of evidence-based medicine,” he told Do No Harm. “I’m not confident that the same kind of training is going on today.” 

When a friend told him about Do No Harm, he became one of our first members. 

“Empathy has to be guided by evidence. You can’t really help people if you’re not based in the real world, and instead you are just trying to get them to conform to your opinion. You have to have evidence to actually help people.”

Earlier in his career, Travis provided “gender-affirming care” for adults – but when he saw members of the field pushing gender ideology on children years later, he was horrified. 

“Anybody who has taken physiology, or pharmacology, or helped do this kind of stuff for adults should understand that it is totally off limits for kids,” he says. “Treating kids with ideology instead of evidence is abhorrent to me as a doctor.” 

He had to speak up. 

Travis started a group called Colorado Principled Physicians to promote non-partisan physician values, like free speech and evidence-based medicine. He joined the Colorado Medical Society (CMS), where he accepted positions including a position on the DEI committee. He continues to submit evidence-based policy proposals to CMS for its consideration.

“We can’t just let academia and medical organizations go to whoever wants it. We have to speak up for our position. If these issues are not being driven by the evidence, then they aren’t going to be stopped by evidence alone – they have to be stopped by people speaking up. And of course, you always want somebody else to do it. I would much rather just go hiking with my kids. But somebody has to do it.”