Taking Their Own Lives — The High Rate of Physician Suicide

When I was an oncology fellow in Vienna, a colleague who had attended rounds with me on the ward went home afterward and strangled herself. Only later was it learned that she had suffered from depression. In the course of that same year, three more physicians in my immediate circle — two residents and a department head — took their own lives. This stunning series was my first encounter with physician suicide, and it left many of us doctors with an important message: we must care not only for our patients but also for ourselves. In an effort to prevent . . .