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`Precious Brilliant Lives Lost`
The title of this blog post is a quote from Dr. Anna Costakis. She is the President-Elect of the New York County Psychiatric Society. Their Early Career Psychiatrists Committee put together a powerful evening meeting earlier this month at Mount Sinai West Roosevelt Hospital in New York City called “Physician Suicide: Addressing the Crisis.” The evocative words in her opening remarks set a humanistic tone that was continued by the expert panel of speakers and in the robust discussion afterwards. There was a nice turnout of medical students, residents, and attending psychiatrists. Here’s a brief account.
Shah, and Carol Bernstein at a meeting on physician suicide at
Mount Sinai West Roosevelt Hospital in New York City.
Dr. Laurel Mayer, an associate professor of psychiatry at Columbia University in New York City and director of the New York Presbyterian House Staff Mental Health Service, gave an overview of burnout, depression, and suicide risk in physicians. Not only did she review much of the research but she appealed to all of us by outlining ways “you can have an impact.” These included working aggressively to debunk stigma, appreciating the realistic (and unrealistic) career fears in symptomatic doctors, and writing supportive letters of recommendation for trainees and colleagues. She highlighted the importance of showing a caring attitude at all times, attentively listening and “taking charge” by responding immediately to overtures from suffering medical colleagues, removing lethal means of suicide, and walking persons in need of help to the nearest emergency room.
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Dr. Matt Goldman, a PGY-3 resident in psychiatry at New York State Psychiatric Institute – Columbia University, lost his roommate, a fellow intern, to suicide in August 2014. He shared with us his journey of shock, grief, and healing, which included his commitment to making a difference. He is Co-Chair of the New York Presbyterian – Columbia Resident Forum, a trainee-run group that pushes collaboration between residents and fellows and advocates for change in education and the health of residents. He speaks and writes on well-being of house officers and is tireless in his passion to save lives.
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Dr. Ravi Shah, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Columbia University, has written and presented nationally on physician depression and suicide. Using his university as an example, he described three avenues of institutional outreach:
- The department of psychiatry offering grand rounds on managing burnout and fatigue and exhorting faculty to become involved;
- Other medical center departments offering grand rounds and working with chief residents and training directors on noon conferences offering help and role modeling;
- The medical school itself designing and offering a “readiness for residency” course to fourth-year medical students.
His detailed account offered advice on what to present, how to present, and tips about what and what not to say to get buy-in.
MORE: Increasing Suicide Rates
Dr. Carol Bernstein, an associate professor of psychiatry, vice chair for education in psychiatry, and director of residency training at New York University School of Medicine in New York City, gave the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) and national perspective. She has served on the board of directors of the ACGME for 6 years and currently co-chairs the ACGME Task Force on Physician Well-Being. Her presentation highlighted the immense amount of work being done by the ACGME to address self-care, resilience, and professionalism in trainees and educators. She also mentioned a number of initiatives and programs that address well-being which have sprung up across the country, including the resurgence of Balint and process groups, positive psychology counseling, web-based cognitive behavior therapy for trainees, benchmarks and milestones for trainees in well-being, meditation and relaxation training, and so forth. She applauded the program at New York Presbyterian, the SMART-R curriculum for resident stress and resiliency at Massachusetts General Hospital, and the resident and faculty wellness program at Oregon Health and Science University, among others. She also mentioned that the Federation of State Medical Boards is working on more universality in updating medical license applications in order to not discriminate against physicians who have been treated for a psychiatric illness but have never been impaired.
It’s hard to summarize in this short piece such a rich evening. I urge those interested in learning more and getting involved locally to have a look at Drs. Goldman, Shah, and Bernstein’s paper (1) on this subject, or to contact any of them directly. We are all in this together—taking action to fight suicide in doctors—and we can make a difference.
Reference
Dr. Myers is Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and immediate past Vice-Chair of Education and Director of Training in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at SUNY-Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY. He is the author of seven books the most recent of which are “Touched by Suicide: Hope and Healing After Loss” (with Carla Fine) and “The Physician as Patient: A Clinical Handbook for Mental Health Professionals” (with Glen Gabbard, MD). He is a specialist in physician health and has written extensively on that subject. Currently, Dr. Myers serves on the Advisory Board to the Committee for Physician Health of the Medical Society of the State of New York. He is a recent past president (and emeritus board member) of the New York City Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The views expressed on this blog are solely those of the blog post author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Psych Congress Network or other Psych Congress Network authors. Blog entries are not medical advice.
