Physician Suicide: What medical students need to know | Dominic King | TEDxCWRU

[SisirMurmu]

I was feeling disconnected during my surgical almost determined to end it all...one phone call to my she knew.. without me having to say it... immediately got under psychiatric supervision ...lost a year but now I'm a surgeon with a purpose.... Depression is real...get help..talk to someone... Everyone is precious...

[makazzytinotenda]

This is so true .... especially the factor that you feel that everyone in class is smarter and you’re the one getting the lowest grades

[DanSmith-nr]

Dr. King hits close to home as a current medical student myself. Going through medical school is so hard, every day I have information shoveled into my brain with no break before the next day’s material. We learn everything that can happen to the human body, whether a common ailment, or something we may never see. It doesn’t get easier after the first two years of medical school. Third year we are placed into a hospital and told to morph everything we’ve spent the last two years into a clinical view. We don’t know what we are doing even though the doctors we rotate with expect us to. The pressure to know everything, to help every patient, and to impress our preceptors is intense. We learn and grow, but then fourth year hits, now we must do the same thing as third year, but at a hospital where we want to do our residency at. It’s hard to find time for ourselves, time to exercise, time to be with family and friends, time to grow outside of medicine. How are doctors expected to maintain proper mental health if they can’t devote even five minutes to their own mental health? I’ve wondered this same thing every day for the past two years. I’ve dedicated my life to the well-being and health of my future patients, to practice the principle of beneficence, or doing good, to all of them, but what about the well-being and doing good for myself and for my family? My spouse and child struggle as much as I do through this, and that’s something I see every day. For a doctor to do good for their patients, they must first do good to themselves. We must allow and push for doctors to have their own time, get their own help, and focus on themselves so that they can better treat we the patients.

[Solitaire_Guy]

As a physician of 15 years I know the truth in this talk. I continuously struggle with suicide and depression.
The occasional patient who seemed to need my help served as a lifeline. It's as if I need to be alive in order to help this particular patient. I consider these succession of patients as God's grace.

[Fia-fnly]

What a wonderful guy. Empathy is indeed what makes you a great doctor as well as leader. Thank you so much for sharing your story!

[Reemaana]

It’s so heartwarming to hear at the conclusion of the talk, that all what he went through paid off!

[julianaperon]

Thank you for opening-up with society and medical students by themselves. We often ignore the negativity, we often hide our pain and lack of courage to no be seen as the weaker. Medical schools must speak about it and offer support

[fahmidamiah]

I recently created a short film on the experience I had when leaving medicine. I had my own reasons for leaving, but what I can tell you is that the leaving is an incredibly difficult process in itself, but it is possible. There is the pre-leaving, leaving, and post-leaving experiences, and each is emotionally taxing. Most people who become Doctors have dedicated their lives to it, so it is incredibly difficult to hear the pain some feel and go through while working in this high-risk career. There is much work Medical Schools need to do. They are just kids! (18 year old in the UK; young adults in USA, as examples) deciding to commit to a career so profound. This talk by Dr King is crucial for both physicians and the public to understand. Sending my love to you all.

[HassanPoyo]

I just scored bottom 40% in my cohort in my medical school exams yesterday and this video came up today. Talk about timing.

I also got diagnosed with major depressive disorder three days ago.

[ElleLim-stuq]

I want to first thank Dr. King for sharing his story; it is not easy to disclose one’s struggles, especially to thousands of people. I’m so glad there are people out there spreading this information because mental health is something we should be talking about more readily and not something to shy away from. As medical students, we are “the future of medicine, ” and we have expectations placed on us the moment we consider going to medical school. The expectation set on medical students is to know everything, to get the highest scores, to do no wrong, and to be perfect. Regarding what Dr. King explained about disconnecting ourselves in order to deal with the stress of medicine, I agree it is not far off from the truth. Healthcare professionals have an ethical duty to their patients to provide objective, non-bias information so they can make their autonomous decisions; even if we have an opinion, we must hold our tongues at times and disconnect to avoid influencing decision-making. What a physician think is best may not be the best for the patient. However, discussing these obstacles that will test your ethical stance with future medical students is essential so that they may better prepare themselves.

[theomnithinker]

Wow I didn't realize the amount of stress these students and physicians face

[drkerroum]

I'm third year medical student and I'm having a depression right now
Since the day I inter to medical school I didn't feel like I deserved it like I'm not the perfect person for this job tell now I still have this problem, i started to hate myself and thinking that I'm not doing enough work

[rickeebobbee]

Dr. King, thank you for this and for sharing your story. As someone who has recently lost a very close friend to suicide and who is a current medical student, your words truly hit home and have put words to the thoughts and feelings that I have felt since the day I first started applying to medical school. Since beginning medical school, I have felt inadequate and not up to par with my peers. I have struggled with thoughts that I am not smart enough to be here or smart enough to eventually match into my current desired specialty for residency. Thankfully I have had a great support system that I can rely on when things get hard but there are many people that aren’t that lucky. Dr. King spoke very strongly on the importance of empathy, and I wholeheartedly agree that empathy is a crucial skill we all should strive to develop, regardless of if we are going to work in the medical field. I feel that this ties well into the medical ethics principle of beneficence, which is to promote the wellbeing of others. Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another individual. It is easy for us to get tied up in our own lives and problems that we forget that everyone else has problems that they are dealing with as well. It takes a desire and a dedication to put yourself into someone else’s shoes but the empowering feeling that comes from truly understanding someone for who they are and what they are going through becomes a feeling of compassion and desire to promote the well-being of others. If we take the time to really talk to someone and get to know them, just as Dr. King did with his standardized patient, we can develop empathy and help to be a light to those that are struggling. As we are open and willing to be vulnerable about our struggles, our shortcomings, and share our story as Dr. King recommends, we just might be able to strike a chord with someone who may be dealing with the same struggles and fears that we have already overcome. They will know that they are not alone and that there is at least someone who understand what they are going through. These are the same feelings that I felt as I listened to this message. Medical school is hard, but no one really talks openly about how much they are struggling. The field of medicine is very competitive, and no one wants to show any weakness in front of their peers. I feel that if we all were candid with our peers as Dr. King was with us, the mental health crisis seen among medical students as well as in current physicians would decrease. It is important to connect with others and if we can erase the stigma and be an advocate for our struggling colleagues and friends, the world would be a better place.

[DrBill-zvdx]

I had so much to say, but he said it for me. Good luck and all the best.❤️

[famrah]

Finally watched this after saving to watch later with 400 other videos and I'm honestly glad I did! Thank you for sharing your inspirational story, left me in tears at the end

[iyanttahowellmd]

what a truly wonderful and powerful talk!! Thank you doctor for your humility and transparency in sharing your story. I am a psychiatrist myself, and remember 1st hand how stressful medical school was. The medical community is better because of doctors like you!!

[yamilettorres]

Empathy and staying connected are extremely. Thank you for sharing this.

[cameronchappell]

I feel like I really resonate with Dominic King. His message about the importance of empathy in leadership is something that I feel like we need to hear more of today. Medical school has been difficult for me. I have never been the top of my class, and it feels like I’ve stumbled in medical school much more than my classmates. My conscious brain knows that’s not true, and that we’re all going through hard things, but it’s so easy to lose sight of that reality when you’re struggling on your own.

The emphasis on the idea that empathy is a skill that can be developed and improved upon is something I find interesting. I think this is an important reminder, especially in today's world where empathy seems to be in short supply. It's easy to become discouraged and believe that empathy is an innate quality that you either have or don't have, but King's talk reminded me that it's something that we can all work on and improve.

Working on that empathy is going to help each of us become better human beings, because we will be able to connect and understand those around us more easily. That’s obviously a very important skill to have as a medical student, striving to help as many people as I can.

[kashmeera]

Thanks for having the courage to share your story. Being human is to be connected to each other and more importantly seeing the oneness in all of creation; moreso in the medical profession as healing is so much a part of a spiritual process and connection 🙏🏾❤

[RunPJs]

Tempted to make an appointment and ask if my Doctor is okay!