Why Medicine Leads the Professions in Suicide, and What We Can Do About It

Suicide is more prevalent among doctors than any other profession. Burnout could be a reason. Iuri Silvestre/Shutterstock

Earlier this month, one of us visited a prominent U.S. medical school to give a lecture on the topic of burnout and how physicians can find more fulfillment in the medical profession. Sadly, that very day, a fourth-year medical student there took her own life.

The problem was not personal failure; she had recently gotten into a competitive residency program at one of the nation’s most prestigious hospitals. Yet apparently, she still found the prospect of the life ahead more than she could bear.