Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Reach out to your colleagues: This can have more impact than you can imagine

Tracy Cardin, ACNP
Physician
September 18, 2018
Share
Tweet
Share

I just heard.

A colleague, a man of integrity and warmth, a hard-working physician with ideals, ethics and many valued contributions, has taken his own life. His perspectives may have differed from mine at times, but every interaction was infused with respect. He was a good man.

Much has been written about the rate of suicide of physicians. One million Americans lose their doctors to suicide each year. Normally I would insert the word provider instead of the less inclusive physician, but in this case, I think there are special considerations that impact our devoted partners, our physician colleagues. The mountain they must climb to complete their education, their medical training, their residency, is very steep. It often leaves these committed and intelligent people with frightful mountains of debt.

And then they must provide care in a system that often forgets why it’s here – instead of focusing on making people well, we focus on manipulating metrics like length of stay, maximizing RVUs or seeing so many patients per hour. The very system that exists to serve the weak and wounded can become an inhumane and bureaucratic business that interferes with the very primitive impulse and guiding light that allowed these professionals to complete their vigorous training.

They may be victims of malpractice suits – reflections of our human frailties that then become exercises in public humiliation. The pressures of caring for the broken members of our world, the patients with untreated mental illness, the coexisting substance use disorder, the fragmentation of our families, the lack of resources for our patients, can feel unending. The job of curing becomes increasingly more difficult in world that, as Pamela Wible quotes in her article in the Washington Post, is “uncomfortable” talking about physician suicide.

It’s not that I don’t care about the other physicians who have made the tragic decision to end their lives. But it’s the physician that you know, and worked with, that contributed to the betterment of our profession, that makes you feel and understand the impact and urgency of this problem.

Please, I ask you, reach out to your colleagues. Talk with them, listen to them, share with them. Treat them with the respect and compassion they deserve. Find time to wrap your interactions with the balm of kindness. This can have more impact than you can imagine.

I hope my colleague’s family finds comfort in all that he has given.

C.S. Lewis once said, “No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear.” I want us all to share in this fear. Maybe sharing that will help us prevent future needless suicides.

Tracy Cardin is a nurse practitioner. This article originally appeared in the Hospital Leader.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

Primary care uniquely positions us to be our patients’ best allies

September 18, 2018 Kevin 0
…
Next

The act of sharing vulnerability creates incredibly profound experiences

September 19, 2018 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Psychiatry

Post navigation

< Previous Post
Primary care uniquely positions us to be our patients’ best allies
Next Post >
The act of sharing vulnerability creates incredibly profound experiences

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Tracy Cardin, ACNP

  • NP/PA vs. physician: Why is there a productivity gap?

    Tracy Cardin, ACNP
  • The 4 types of low-functioning health care team members

    Tracy Cardin, ACNP
  • 5 ways to make a connection with previously unreachable patients

    Tracy Cardin, ACNP

Related Posts

  • A physician’s addiction to social media

    Amanda Xi, MD
  • How hospitals can impact generic drug companies

    Mark Kelley, MD
  • Imagine viewing health care from space

    Praveen Suthrum
  • To those looking to support their black colleagues

    Jasmine Arrington
  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    The impact of removing numerical scores from USMLE Step 1

    Cory Michael, MD
  • Robotic surgery’s impact on training the next generation of surgeons

    Barry Greene, MD

More in Physician

  • Love on life support: a powerful reminder from the ICU

    Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD
  • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

    Patrick Hudson, MD
  • From basketball to bedside: Finding connection through March Madness

    Caitlin J. McCarthy, MD
  • The invisible weight carried by Black female physicians

    Trisza Leann Ray, DO
  • A female doctor’s day: exhaustion, sacrifice, and a single moment of joy

    Dr. Damane Zehra
  • The hidden cost of malpractice: Why doctors are losing control

    Howard Smith, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • “Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

      Anonymous | Education
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • Why true listening is crucial for future health care professionals [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Love on life support: a powerful reminder from the ICU

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • Surviving kidney disease and reforming patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Antimicrobial resistance: a public health crisis that needs your voice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 1 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • How dismantling DEI endangers the future of medical care

      Shashank Madhu and Christian Tallo | Education
    • How scales of justice saved a doctor-patient relationship

      Neil Baum, MD | Physician
    • “Think twice, heal once”: Why medical decision-making needs a second opinion from your slower brain (and AI)

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Do Jewish students face rising bias in holistic admissions?

      Anonymous | Education
    • Why shared decision-making in medicine often fails

      M. Bennet Broner, PhD | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • What’s driving medical students away from primary care?

      ​​Vineeth Amba, MPH, Archita Goyal, and Wayne Altman, MD | Education
    • Internal Medicine 2025: inspiration at the annual meeting

      American College of Physicians | Physician
    • A faster path to becoming a doctor is possible—here’s how

      Ankit Jain | Education
    • Residency as rehearsal: the new pediatric hospitalist fellowship requirement scam

      Anonymous | Physician
    • Are quotas a solution to physician shortages?

      Jacob Murphy | Education
    • The hidden bias in how we treat chronic pain

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
  • Recent Posts

    • Why true listening is crucial for future health care professionals [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Love on life support: a powerful reminder from the ICU

      Syed Ahmad Moosa, MD | Physician
    • Surviving kidney disease and reforming patient care [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Why we fear being forgotten more than death itself

      Patrick Hudson, MD | Physician
    • My journey from misdiagnosis to living fully with APBD

      Jeff Cooper | Conditions
    • Antimicrobial resistance: a public health crisis that needs your voice [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Reach out to your colleagues: This can have more impact than you can imagine
1 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...