National Academy Of Medicine 'Breaking Silence' On Doctors' Distress, Suicide

Rates of depression and suicide are strikingly high among doctors, and The National Academy of Medicine wants to help the profession talk about it.

In June, it published "Breaking The Culture of Silence on Physician Suicide," an exploration of the 2013 suicide of a third-year medical student, Kaitlyn Elkins. And now, it has re-posted Dr. Elisabeth Poorman's recent CommonHealth piece — "I Felt Alone But I Wasn't: Depression Is Rampant Among Doctors In Training" — at the top of its website.

It has also created the infographic below, to go with the piece.

In an introduction, Dr. Sandeep Kishore, of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System, writes that, "As with any challenge, the first step is to identify the problem so solutions can be formed jointly by those most affected." He invites anyone else who wants to share their experiences with "the culture of silence" to write him at sunny.kishore@gmail.com.