ABOUT THE PROJECT: Two-time Emmy award winning filmmaker, Robyn Symon, takes on the physician suicide crisis that has claimed the lives of countless medical students, doctors, and patients.
LOGLINE: Medical students and families of physicians touched by suicide come out of the shadows to expose the truth about a sick healthcare system that not only risks patients’ lives, but drives our brilliant young doctors to take their own lives.
SYNOPSIS / DESCRIPTION: Doctors are supposed to be our healers, yet they have the highest rate of suicide among any profession. Do No Harm weaves intimate stories of suicidal doctors and surviving families of young doctors who have taken their own lives with experts who reveal the truth behind this silent epidemic. What you don’t know about medical culture can kill you. Bullying, sleep deprivation, and assembly-line medicine lead not only to medical mistakes—the third leading cause of death in the U.S.—but to the deaths of our doctors. The film explores this hidden culture at our medical schools and hospitals that drives our doctors to desperation and death while also revealing the groundbreaking solutions that are saving the lives of promising young doctors—and their patients.
https://vimeo.com/161420899
We need your support! Please donate now so we can complete this film. Plan is to head to Sundance Film Festival in January, 2017, and then to PBS and international distribution. This is a global human rights issue and we need your support. Funding goal: 360K. Any amount helps.
Have you lost a med student or physician to suicide? Please donate in his/her honor.
INDIVIDUAL SPONSORSHIP
$1,000+ Physician Friend – Website honor page with your name.
$5,000+ Physician Film Credit – Screen rolling credit and website honor page “Your name (in memory of),” 5 VIP tickets to local film premiere, 5 DVDs of film.
$10,000+ Expanded Physician Film Credit – Screen rolling credit and website honor page “Your name (in memory of),” you/your organization (and logo) in all film press releases & promotional materials, 10 VIP tickets to local film premiere, 10 DVDs of film.
CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP
$25,000+ Half-Screen Credit – Half-screen film credit shared with another organization with your logo and message “This film made possible by a generous donation from your name,” website honor page and interactive social media links to your organization, your organization in all film press releases & promotional materials, 20 VIP tickets to local film premiere, 20 DVDs of film.
$50,000+ Full-Screen Credit – Full-screen film credit dedicated to your organization with your logo and message “This film made possible by a generous donation from your name,” website honor page and interactive social media links to your organization, your organization in all film press releases & promotional materials, 30 VIP tickets to local film premiere, 30 DVDs of the film.
$100,000+ Executive Producer Credit – Full-screen film credit dedicated to your organization with your logo and message “This film made possible by a generous donation from your name,” Executive Producer credit for CEO/President, website honor page and interactive social media links to your organization, your organization in all film press releases & promotional materials, 50 VIP tickets to local film premiere with film stars, 50 DVDs of the film, plus a private organizational screening of the film (and Q&A with film director and subjects).
Make your donation by check or credit card
Donations by check: 1) Tax-deductible donations payable to The Film Collaborative (they take 5% fee). 2) Non-tax-deductible donations payable to Symon Productions. In memo line write “Do No Harm.” Mail to: Symon Productions, Inc., 11911 Dorothy Street Unit 205, Los Angeles, CA 90049.
If you have questions regarding the film, sponsorship options for you or your organization, or wish to view the expanded 19-minute version of this movie trailer, please contact Dr. Wible.
Incredible true
We medical students are taught to seek answers, find answers, and fix problems. When we cannot do that, we feel as though we have failed. It is hard to accept that some lives cannot be saved, some illnesses cannot be healed, and some questions cannot be answered. When we cannot come up with the answer to the impossible question of “Why?” we feel responsible for the loss, we feel inadequate, and we feel as though admitting this to anyone is a sign of weakness.
What you said about the greatest risk being patient safety is the biggest reason as to why we don’t seek help: admitting we feel out of control, sad, or helpless, or seeking mental health help could label us with a “mental illness” that comes with negative connotations (the same negative connotations mentioned in your trailer). Nobody wants to be treated by a doctor who is “too emotionally unstable to treat them safely.”
Trust me, the last thing physicians and student physicians want to do is harm their patients; that’s why they take their own lives first.
The film destigmatizes mental health issues. It’s not about victim blaming or shaming. A 2-minute trailer obviously can not do justice to this “taboo” topic that has been covered up forever. The final version will be approximately 80 minutes.
My daughter is applying to med school for the Fall of 2017; I am frightened by this. I am not rich enough to donate at the levels requested, but I pray your project succeeds for all who plan to serve, including my daughter.
Any amount will help. Please consider donating as we will not be able to complete the film without public support. Lives are on the line every day that we wait to get this film out there. Thanks Janyne.
I work at a medical school and watching this literally had me crying at my desk. Is there any way to be notified when movie is released so I can make sure I see it?
I’ll email you now Kelli. I think you’ll also love this video: https://www.idealmedicalcare.org/blog/humanizing-medical-education-how-to-grow-a-happy-doctor/
I am a current 4th year medical student, I had a little bit of a teary eye when I watched the trailer and have been following this topic for a while. Recently my colleagues and mine have been advocating to the American Medical Association for better screening and support programs for medical students and professionals. I think this film would be a good educational resource to convince the delegation that this is a topic we need to advocate more strongly for.