Day of Solidarity: Bringing awareness to the physician and medical student suicide epidemic

Imagine your excitement as a parent getting ready to attend your child’s graduation from medical school. Instead, you attend his funeral–yet another medical student suicide victim.And statistics show no improvement even when a medical student becomes a doctor.

According to Ashley Maltz, MD and Pamela Wible, MD:

“Medical student and physician suicide is an epidemic. It is estimated that 400 doctors die by suicide in the United States each year. That’s the equivalent of an entire medical school gone! The second leading cause of death among medical students is suicide–a well-known occupational hazard in medicine. Yet no medical organization is tracking these suicides. Why? And how can we solve a problem when it’s hidden from us?”

Lacey Kohlmoos, an Online Organizing Strategist at Care2 Petitions and wife of a 4th year medical student, is championing National Day of Solidarity to Prevent Physician Suicide in Philadelphia on Saturday, August 20th to bring awareness to this dire situation.

This event is also happening simultaneously in 11 cities across the country, each with its own lineup of speakers and activities, in case you can not make it to Philadelphia:

The more awareness we raise, the more we can speak with one voice–a voice of solidarity–to find the root causes of physician and medical student suicide, and promote solutions to turn the tide.

Fulfilling a life’s passion to care for others shouldn’t mean personal suffering–or worse.