This evening I spoke with health professionals at Thurston-Mason County Medical Society in Washington state in the aftermath of the loss of two beloved emergency physicians who died by suicide. Colleagues and family members gathered to honor the lives of Drs. Matthew E. Seaman and John W. Hautala.
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Just off the phone with a USC Keck med student who told me he lost his classmate to suicide this week on my way to Memphis to lead a suicide postvention program for a medical group after a senior colleague killed himself. In the last decade assisting hospitals and medical schools in the aftermath of suicides,
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If you are a doctor (or med student/health professional) and you are human, you’ve probably made a medical mistake. You’ve probably not received emotional support for the mistake. Maybe you’ve never told anyone about a mistake that still haunts you today.
The truth is most all physicians have admitted to medical mistakes sometime in their careers.
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Since my original keynote 2 years ago: 33 orthopaedic surgeon suicides: How to prevent #34, we’ve lost 22 more orthopaedic surgeon to suicide. On September 10, 2020, at the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society, I share why each of these 55 doctors died died and how we can prevent future suicides among doctors.
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Listen to the interview on Oregon Public Broadcasting here.
Rates of suicide for physicians are among the highest for any profession. And the strain of the coronavirus pandemic is making already strenuous working conditions nearly impossible to bear for some and impossible for others.
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View the Wall of Remembrance (above) at the end of the newly released award-winning documentary, Do No Harm: Exposing the Hippocratic Hoax, a film that exposes our doctor suicide crisis and honors nearly 100 doctors who have died by suicide. Join me today in remembering them.
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Doctor suicide is a public health crisis that claims the lives of an estimated 400 US doctors annually. Given each doctor cares for upwards of 2000 – 3000 active patients, more than one million Americans risk losing their doctors to suicide each year. Responding with compassion and honesty in the aftermath of a physician suicide is essential to helping loss survivors—colleagues,
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Dear Leigh,
Within days of your suicide, your friends reached out to me for help in sharing the truth of your life—and death. Then came this letter from your aunt:
My niece is a physician who died by suicide on 4/14/20 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
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View full-feature award-winning documentary by Emmy-winning filmmaker that exposes the doctor suicide crisis—and offers SOLUTIONS—followed by expert panels and interactive Q/A. Every Sunday! Register here & View trailer .
Questions?
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Dr. Leigh Sundem, a phenomenal physician died by suicide. Accomplished & super-smart with a 4.0 GPA, even aced the MCAT, yet was unmatched to residency 3 times . . . so she scrambled twice into temporary spots (but couldn’t get anything the third time). Even though she had 16 academic awards,
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Dr. Leigh Sundem died by suicide when she was obstructed from practicing medicine due to discrimination related to her drug addiction as a teen. Clean & sober 15 years, she was an advocate for others in recovery, even testifying to congress. With countless awards in med school, Leigh was a phenomenal physician,
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Reporter: Here on CBS in Los Angeles every week we’re taking a deeper look into the toll that this pandemic is taking on our mental health and how we can manage our new normal. Our healthcare workers are facing trauma no one could ever prepare for—a doctor in New York,
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Hero doctor dies by suicide, and yes, she’s a hero—and she deserves to be honored.
Lorna Breen, a top NYC doctor who recovered from Coronavirus, was in “excruciating” emotional pain watching so many patients die. With no history of mental illness, yet clearly traumatized,
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Doctor revived after suicide. Here's what he says.
