Physicians are more than twice as likely to die by suicide, and surgeons are at particularly high risk due at least in part to the US neurosurgeon shortage.
Working in the health care profession is a privilege, yet it also carries some personal risks. Only when clinicians who have sought and successfully received help for depression, suicidality, and other mental illness come forward to share their experience will more of clinicians in need of psychiatric treatment feel comfortable seeking and receiving that care.
The US neurologist shortage is reducing patients access to care and increasing physician burnout, siphoning off members of a critical workforce that isn t growing fast enough.
Thinking back on my experiences as a clinician, changes in my work schedule would have made a significant difference. Getting enough sleep, having sufficient time for my patients, my family and my education as a physician could have been a game-changer as I was always passionate about medicine and, especially, intensive care. But when my job started to impact my life and health destructively, I decided the price was too high. It was time to take a break. And I can say I'm not the only one.