Physicians are 40% more likely than workers in other fields to report suicidal ideation – 7.1% versus 4.3% according to a 2021 study by Dr. Tait Shanafelt and colleagues. Our nation’s caregivers do not enter the profession to have it end prematurely by suicide. As we move further away from the COVID pandemic, licensed healthcare personnel are still facing the same issues they were prior: One meta-analysis from researchers at Harvard estimated the depression rate among doctors in training at 29% compared to 8% of non-physicians.
