U.S. physicians have the highest suicide rate of any profession, according to findings presented at the American Psychiatric Association 2018 Annual Meeting in New York City from May 5 to May 9 and detailed in Medscape.
Here are five things to know.
1. A systematic literature review found that the completed suicide rate among physicians is 28 to 40 per 100,000, more than twice that of the general population.
2. While female physicians attempt suicide less often than women in the general population, the completion rate for female physician suicides is 2.5 to 4 times greater than the general population and equivalent to that of male physicians.
3. Depression affects an estimated 12 percent of male physicians and up to 19.5 percent of female physicians, a prevalence that reflects the general population.
4. Between 15 percent and 30 percent of medical students and residents screen positive for depressive symptoms.
5. A fourth-year radiology student at New York University's Langone Medical Center in New York City and a psychiatry resident at NYU Langone Health recently died by suicide five days apart from one another, Medscape reports.
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