Physician, Do No Harm (to Yourself): A Comprehensive View of Physician Suicide (Wellness Committee Sponsored)
Physicians in the United States have the highest suicide rate of any profession and one which more than doubles that of the general population. The suicide rate of male physicians is 40% higher than men in general, and in women is 130% higher than that of females in the general population. Data from the Center for Disease Control’s National Violent Death Reporting System shows that compared to the general population, physicians are three-times more likely to have job problems identified as a factor contributing to suicide, including tensions with a co-worker, poor performance reviews, increased pressure at work, or fear of being laid off. Of concern, suicide is a leading cause of death among physicians-in-training. There is an epidemic of physician suicide—a public health crisis with one million Americans losing their doctors to suicide each year. An expert panel will discuss their personal experiences with physician suicide elucidating the systemic and personal stressors that might be contributory. We will also examine solutions to this epidemic of depression, burnout, and suicide in the medical community. This will be followed by a question-and-answer period for those in attendance.
Presenters:
- Rita A. Manfredi
- Amanda J. Deutsch, MD
- Jayram Pai, MD
- Saadia Akhtar, MD
- Amanda M. Ritchie, MD
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Rita A. Manfredi, MD
Professor, Clinical Emergency Medicine
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences
Rita A. Manfredi, MD, is a Professor of Clinical Emergency Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She started her career as a US Navy Flight Surgeon and completed an Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Massachusetts. She previously completed a fellowship in Health and Spirituality at the George Washington Institute for Spirituality and Health, recently became board-certified in Hospice and Palliative Medicine and is interested in integrating Palliative Medicine concepts into the care of patients in the ED. Dr. Manfredi is an active member of the SAEM Wellness Committee and has introduced a Storytelling in EM event at national SAEM conferences for the past 3 years. In 2021, Dr. Manfredi received ACEP’s Lifetime Achievement Award: The Pamela Benson Trailblazer Award for seminal contributions over time to the growth of the College and to the specialty of emergency medicine. Dr. Manfredi’s work in Wellbeing focuses on how the system or organization impacts the wellness of the individual health care provider.
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Amanda J. Deutsch, MD
Thomas Jefferson University
Dr. Amanda J. Deutsch, MD is a Clinical Assistant Professor and Director of Well-Being for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University. Dr. Deutsch earned her undergraduate degree at Harvard University. She subsequently completed her post-baccalaureate and did quality improvement research at Boston Children’s Hospital before starting her career as a medical student at the University of Iowa, where she is from. She completed an Emergency Medicine residency at the University of Pennsylvania, where she completed a track in Healthcare Leadership and Quality Improvement. She most recently completed a fellowship in Physician Wellness at Stanford Emergency Medicine. In her inaugural role as Director of Well-Being at the Department of Emergency Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University she combines her interests in clinical operations, process improvements and well-being.
Dr. Deutsch chairs the #StopTheStigmaEM subcommittee and hopes to normalize conversations around mental health for emergency medicine physicians, address barriers, and foster better mental health care for emergency medicine. Her interests include focusing on gratitude and appreciation to develop a sense of community and a team that can excel for their patients without the cost of their interests, self, and career. Dr. Deutsch loves to tweak process improvements to help foster well-being.
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Jayram Pai, MD
Morristown Medical Center
Jayram Pai completed is residency at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mt Sinai in 2020, during which time he served as the EMRA Wellness Chair. After completing his post graduate training, he joined the faculty of Brown Emergency Medicine where he served as Director of Medical Student Education from 2021 to 2023. He recently relocated with his family to Morristown Medical Center, where he is part of the EM Faculty. His areas of academic interest include medical education, physician wellness, and regional anesthesia. In his free time, he enjoys scuba diving with his wife and traveling with their 1 year old son.
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Saadia Akhtar, MD
Senior Associate Dean for Trainee Well-Being in Graduate Medical Education
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Saadia Akhtar, MD, is a professor of emergency medicine and medical education and senior associate dean for trainee well-being in graduate medical education at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Since 2018, she has served as associate dean for trainee well-being in graduate medical education, overseeing several successful initiatives to enhance the well-being of residents and clinical fellows. These initiatives include establishing a GME well-being survey to assess the needs of residents and fellows, expanding the GME Well-being Champion program, and creating the GME Clinical Work Intensity Matching Grant Program.
In 2024, Dr. Akhtar was promoted to senior associate dean for trainee well-being in GME, continuing to lead efforts to address resident and fellow burnout. She supports collaborative initiatives to create and integrate well-being curricular activities in training programs, raise awareness of existing resources for residents and fellows, and enable GME Well-being Champions to enhance the efficiency and culture of the training environment. She is also a leading faculty member of the Office of Well-Being and Resilience.
Dr. Akhtar previously served as the director of the emergency medicine residency program at Mount Sinai Beth Israel. She is a former president of the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine (CORD) and an oral board examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM). She has received numerous awards, including the ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award for program director excellence and the CORD Michael P. Wainscott Program Director Award. She is the course co-director for the Collaborative for healing and Renewal in Medicine (CHARM) national GME Well-being Leaders Certificate Course. Dr. Akhtar completed a combined residency in emergency medicine and internal medicine at Mount Sinai Beth Israel and served as chief resident in her final year of training.
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Amanda M. Ritchie, MD
Louisiana State University
Dr. Amanda Michelle Ritchie is a 4th year resident in the Internal Medicine / Emergency Medicine program at Louisiana State University in New Orleans. Dr. Ritchie initially trained as a registered nurse in Canada before pursuing her degree in medicine.