View the Wall of Remembrance (above) at the end of the newly released award-winning documentary, Do No Harm: Exposing the Hippocratic Hoax, a film that exposes our doctor suicide crisis and honors nearly 100 doctors who have died by suicide. Join me today in remembering them. View full-feature film by Emmy-winning filmmaker now on Amazon Prime.
Greg Hamlin Miday, M.D., Internist
Kevin Thomas Dietl, D.O., Degree Awarded Posthumously
Kaitlyn Nicole Elkins, Medical Student
Sean Michael Petro, Medical Student
Emily Ariel Bamberger, M.D.,Ph.D. Candidate
Jacob “Dr. J” Neufeld, M.D., M.P.H, Pediatric Physiatrist
John Chuan Loh, Medical Student
Gabriel Goodwin, M.D., Anesthesiologist
Evan Astin, M.D., Internal Medicine Resident
Gregory Andrew Collins, M.D., Family Physician
Lara Barnett, M.D., Internal Medicine Resident
Charles Christopher Martin, M.D., Family Medicine Resident
Carrie Ann Largent, Medical Student
William Samuel Brown, M.D., Radiologist
Robert Karoly Chu, M.D., M.P.H., Aspiring Radiologist
Jeremy Egnatios, Medical Student
Steven G. Ortiz, M.D., Orthopaedic Surgeon
Alan R. Rowlan, M.D., Surgeon
Kim Marie Walsh, M.D., M.P.H., Family Physician
Ross Alan Gallo, M.D., Psychiatrist
Abdurrahman Unal, M.D., Radiation Oncologist
Alain Bolduc, M.D., Dermatologist
Alex Djuricich, M.D., Internist and Pediatrician
Amanda Liu, D.O., Radiology Resident
Andrew Bryant, M.B.B.S., Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist
Benjamin Shaffer, M.D., Orthopaedic Surgeon
Boyd Dan Batla, Medical Student
Bryan Whitemarsh, M.D., Family Physician
Captain Michael McCaddon, M.D., Obstetrics/Gynecology Resident
Carol D. Lee, M.D., Emergency Physician
Chloe Eliza Abbott, M.B.B.S., Medical Registrar
Christine E. Petrich, M.D., Psychiatrist
Christopher Dawson, M.D., Surgeon
Corbin Shawn, M.D., M.S., Pathology Resident
Daniel Gunther, M.D., Pediatric Endocrinologist
David Gersztenkorn, M.D., Ophthalmology Resident
David Scott Brooks, M.D., Family Physician
Deelshad Joomun, M.D., Interventional Nephrologist
Douglas F. Meyer, M.D., M.P.H., Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist
Eric S. Steichen, Medical Student
Greg Feldman, M.D., Vascular Surgeon
Hans Christopher Machula, M.D., Degree Awarded Posthumously
Jack Andrew Singer, M.D., Ophthalmologist
James C. Kelly, D.O., Family Physician
James K. Bauman, M.D., Obstetrician/Gynecologist
James Ray Anderson, D.O., General Practitioner
James Wilson Dow, M.D., Cardiologist
Janet Y. Christophel, M.D., Anesthesiology Resident
Jeffrey Knobloch, D.O., Family Physician
John D. Wilson, Sr., M.D., Family Physician
John Franklin Dorsey, Medical Student
John Mark Baar, M.D., Psychiatrist
John Mark Madsen, Medical Student
John McNaugher Stang, M.D., Cardiologist
Jon Azkue, M.D., Internist
Jonathan J. Drummond-Webb, M.D., Pediatric and Congenital Cardiac Surgeon
Jonathan W. R. Davies, M.D., Obstetrician/Gynecologist
Kelly Werlinger, M.D., Aspiring Dermatologist
Kurt A. Swanson, M.D., Anesthesiologist
Lee Ray Winkler, D.O., Obstetrics/Gynecology Resident
Leslie Gale Bluman, Medical Student
Marc E. Wise, M.D., J.D., Anesthesiology Resident
Mark A. Gonsky, D.O., General Practitioner
Mark William Sebastian, M.D., Vascular Surgeon
Matt Wittman, Medical Student
Matthew Carl Bishop, M.D., M.B.A., Emergency Physician
Mitchell D. Hardison, M.D., Internist
Myles K. Gaupp, Jr., M.D., Family Physician
Natalie Carol Sieb, D.O., Family Physician
Nehal A. Shah, M.D., Aspiring Family Physician
Neil Grover, Medical Student
Noah Chase Beadell, M.D., Neurologist
Paki Myers, M.D., Emergency Physician
Patrick Glenn Daus, D.O., Emergency Physician
Ramsey Oliver Coles, Medical Student
Richard Irwin Caesar, M.D., Addiction Specialist and Emergency Physician
Richard “Pete” Dickson, M.D., Family Physician
Rita E. Leighton, M.D., Anesthesiologist
Rita Kay Payne, M.D., Obstetrician/Gynecologist
Robert E. Elliott, M.D., Radiologist
Robert Shaw Bowling, Jr., M.D., Family Physician
Robert Wolyn, M.D., Cardiologist
Ronald Chance Brown, M.D., Internist
Roseanna Polge, B.M.B.S., Medical Intern
Russel J. Vancoevering, II, M.D., Obstetrician/Gynecologist
Scot Pencil, M.D., Ph.D., Pathologist
Shawn C. Kelley, M.D., Internist
Stephen P. Kelleher, M.D., Nephrologist
Steven L. Anthony, D.O., Otolaryngologist
Ted Eastburn, M.D., Cardiologist
Varun Babu, M.D., Cardiology Resident
Wayne Allen Hendrix, M.D., Anesthesiology Resident
Wayne M. Gunckle, D.O., Orthopaedic Surgeon
. . . and the thousands of unnamed doctors . . .
View documentary and help stop the crisis.
All of these people on this wall should be here now. It is so sad and disheartening they’re not.
God Bless them and their families. They were probably abused in the workplace, which possibly led to their suicide. Abuse in the workplace especially for Physicians and medical students needs to stop. Laws need to be passed in all 50 states to prevent abuse and bullying in the workplace. People don’t realized how much doctors are abused. As a victim of it myself, it is not okay and should be brought to light more. The more one can shine a light on this, the better. Dr. Pamela Wible, MD is a true hero for bringing these issues to light.
Lit a candle for my friend and lost colleague. RIP, JR.
I had no idea that suicides among doctors were so prevalent. All those people were geniuses who had worked so hard to get through school (i saw some medical students in the list) to be so disillusioned with their life’s work that they just couldn’t face life anymore. I bet many felt they couldn’t get help and couldn’t take anti-depression drugs because they feared it would become public knowledge. We gotta get rid of the stigma related to psychological problems.
Absolutely. We are human and need to have emotional support in this challenging career! We witness far too much suffering & death. Need on-the-job confidential & non-punitive mental health care. See this: Physician-Friendly States for Mental Health: A Review of Medical Boards
Medical boards do undermine physician mental health by breaching physician confidentiality and privacy. Discrimination against qualified, competent applicants who report mental health conditions is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In their search for criminal behavior among physicians, medical boards must not become criminal in their own behavior. By breaking federal law and the AMA Code of Ethics, boards have weaponized mental health diagnoses against physicians. Recommendations for all state boards:
1) Remove mental health questions from medical licensing applications. Replace with current impairment questions such as: “Do you currently have a condition that impairs your ability to practice medicine safely?” Comply with federal law by following best practices of Grade A states. Move criminal/predatory behavior queries to the criminal section alongside felonies and DUIs.
2) Address impairment from hazardous working conditions. Rather than focus on individual victims, engage in high-yield activities that resolve hazardous conditions impairing physicians en masse. To truly protect patients, align with all other industries invested in public safety that have legislated (and enforced) maximum 16-hour shifts, 60-hour work weeks, with minimum 30-minute breaks every 8 hours.
3) Encourage nonpunitive 100% confidential mental health care. Physicians require safe, accessible mental health care to be well-adjusted human beings. Most physicians enter medicine as humanitarians with noble intentions. Help them be well. After all, how can physicians give patients the care they’ve never received?
“Physicians are treated as criminals and tracked more closely than Level III sex offenders,” reports a general surgeon. “Answering all these questions on applications, the subtle, unspoken lesson is ‘you had better be squeaky clean, mentally, morally and physically! If you step off the shining path, bad things will occur.’ I have known 7 male physicians who died by suicide. Most with a ‘happy’ exterior. Why? They cannot confide in colleagues for fear that their colleagues will turn them in to hospitals and boards—and there goes their privileges and livelihood. They cannot confide in their spouses because during rough patches mentally, their marriages are already in trouble. If they share psychological problems, they probably fear that the wife may use this as ammunition in any future divorce. So they keep on smiling—right up to the hour they die.”
Even until their last breath, physicians retain their work ethic. Some doctors are completing chart notes, returning lab results, and checking in on hospitalized patients in the hours before their suicides.(5)
By injuring physicians, we aren’t protecting the public.
Let’s end the physician mental health witch hunt.
EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM SUCCUMBED DUE TO 100% PREVENTABLE CAUSE.
FIGHT STIGMA, END THE SILENCE, CONQUER OLD COLLEAGUES TO MAKE A CHANGE IN MEDICAL EDUCATION CULTURE.
Here’s what we can do now to prevent more deaths: REMOVE the stigma from med board applications that violate the rights of physicians to seek confidential non-punitive mental health care. See: Physician-Friendly States for Mental Health: A Review of Medical Boards
CONCLUSION
Medical boards do undermine physician mental health by breaching physician confidentiality and privacy. Discrimination against qualified, competent applicants who report mental health conditions is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In their search for criminal behavior among physicians, medical boards must not become criminal in their own behavior. By breaking federal law and the AMA Code of Ethics, boards have weaponized mental health diagnoses against physicians. Recommendations for all state boards:
1) Remove mental health questions from medical licensing applications. Replace with current impairment questions such as: “Do you currently have a condition that impairs your ability to practice medicine safely?” Comply with federal law by following best practices of Grade A states. Move criminal/predatory behavior queries to the criminal section alongside felonies and DUIs.
2) Address impairment from hazardous working conditions. Rather than focus on individual victims, engage in high-yield activities that resolve hazardous conditions impairing physicians en masse. To truly protect patients, align with all other industries invested in public safety that have legislated (and enforced) maximum 16-hour shifts, 60-hour work weeks, with minimum 30-minute breaks every 8 hours.
3) Encourage nonpunitive 100% confidential mental health care. Physicians require safe, accessible mental health care to be well-adjusted human beings. Most physicians enter medicine as humanitarians with noble intentions. Help them be well. After all, how can physicians give patients the care they’ve never received?
“Physicians are treated as criminals and tracked more closely than Level III sex offenders,” reports a general surgeon. “Answering all these questions on applications, the subtle, unspoken lesson is ‘you had better be squeaky clean, mentally, morally and physically! If you step off the shining path, bad things will occur.’ I have known 7 male physicians who died by suicide. Most with a ‘happy’ exterior. Why? They cannot confide in colleagues for fear that their colleagues will turn them in to hospitals and boards—and there goes their privileges and livelihood. They cannot confide in their spouses because during rough patches mentally, their marriages are already in trouble. If they share psychological problems, they probably fear that the wife may use this as ammunition in any future divorce. So they keep on smiling—right up to the hour they die.”
Even until their last breath, physicians retain their work ethic. Some doctors are completing chart notes, returning lab results, and checking in on hospitalized patients in the hours before their suicides.(5)
By injuring physicians, we aren’t protecting the public.
Let’s end the physician mental health witch hunt.
I never realized how abusive my previous work place was until I moved to somewhere that wasn’t.
So very glad to see this issue being brought to the public attention. That’s the only way medical boards are going to be pressured to make the changes to reduce the stigma and remove barriers to obtaining lifesaving care.
I would like to respectfully note that the same issues affect physician assistant colleagues (and possibly nurse practitioners as well). They are subject to the same medical board restrictions. While the years of training and debt are not as much as for physicians, they are not negligible. the sense of personal responsibility, the dedication and long hours, the stressful environments and working conditions, and the stigma and isolation are shared. There is less research on the problem than even for physicians.
I personally have known physicians, advanced practice providers and nurses and medics who have died of suicide. How can there be so little help and recognition for those who live to help others?
Thank you for posting this.
Yes, I have a registry with 1,500+ names (and also separate ones for other health professionals). There are so many. Yet none seem to be able to have a guarantee of non-punitive confidential mental health care despite the occupationally-induced mental health impacts. Sad. Punishing those who have dedicated their lives to serving others.
It’s so disheartening to see this, because I went into the field of medicine to help people and be a healer, as I’m sure these people on this wall did too. The people on this wall probably never anticipated that they would die of suicide. I never anticipated as a doctor that I was going to be exposed to the horrific abuse and unspeakable horror that I was exposed to either. Abuse and the ruthless and Machiavellianism mindset in the medical field needs to stop and it is causing the suicide rate to go up. Physicians need to remember the Oath they took in Medical school to Do No Harm. If they all remembered this, I’m sure the suicide rate and the abuse would go down for physicians. My love and prayers to all of these people and their families. Every one on this wall should he here today practicing medicine and helping in the pandemic.
I had the pleasure to work with Dr. David Gersztenkorn. He was just like any of us, and none us knew the internal struggles he was facing. I will never forget our last interactions the weekend before that tragic day. My one regret is seeing him from afar that Monday doing rounds, and not stopping to say hello. You will never be forgotten David.