Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Physicians Steeped In Culture Of 'Toughing It Out' Often Fear Reporting Suicidal Thoughts, Mental Health Illness
Modern Healthcare: Medical Industry Responds To Physician Suicide Rates, Mental Health Stigma
Physician suicide has been a problem in healthcare for decades. Studies dating back to the 1920s show that physicians suffer from suicide at high rates. Physicians with mental health conditions have long been discriminated against and suicides have often been kept hidden from colleagues and the public. The difference in the past few years is that the industry is responding. Recent concerns around burnout have pushed organizations to rethink how they approach physician well-being, which has led to more action around how to deal with physician mental health concerns and suicide. (Castellucci, 9/29)
In other news on health care personnel —
Kaiser Health News: White Coats As Superhero Capes: Med Students Swoop In To Save Health Care
Each wall of the library reading room at the New York Academy of Medicine is lined with tall wooden bookshelves holding leather-bound medical tomes. Atop the shelves perch busts — seemingly all white, all male — lit by two large brass chandeliers. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook New York City’s Central Park and Fifth Avenue. This setting, which speaks to medicine’s staid past, recently became the backdrop for plotting medicine’s future. (Bluth, 10/1)
