Physician Suicide: An Overlooked Epidemic

Suicide, in general, can be a challenging topic to approach and dissect. It can be complicated and uncomfortable and is perpetuated as taboo. Physician suicide in particular can be even more complicated, confusing, and uncomfortable. The topic of physician suicide (as well as medical student suicide) is understudied and the literature available is underwhelming. The research I conducted focuses on the big picture of physician suicide. From the first year of medical school, to a new doctor’s residency, and on through their practice, physicians face a unique set of obstacles and adversities that shape their experience and ultimately lend to a higher disposition for suicidal ideation and suicide death. The goal of this work is to educate people who are not physicians, whether they plan to become one or not, on what happens, why it happens, and how we might be able to better prepare ourselves and makes changes. Physician suicide is not an isolated event that the general population should be comfortable ignoring; it is an epidemic that needs to be explored