We work in an impossibly depleted health care system and under impossibly high expectations of perfection from society. We hold our peers, our team members, our trainees, and most of all, ourselves to rigid, lofty ideals of flawlessness. By glorifying perfectionism in medicine, we have effectively dehumanized ourselves.

The oath we take is “Do No Harm.” It is not “Try your best to do no harm.” Is it appropriate to expect …

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I am rattled as I read the headlines. Another bright, incredible physician has ended her life. I feel numb with horror as I read the details. I want to scream, cry, and punch the wall. Wiping my tears away, I try to focus on the needs of my whining toddler as she tugs at my dress.

I am in mourning for every doctor’s death by suicide. Yes, for every one of …

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