Doctor Lifeline

15/09/2025

Su***de contagion or clusters, in which su***des may occur in close chronologic or geographic proximity, is a concept especially important in the health-care workplace.

The Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City experienced a tragic cluster of su***des among young female health care professionals between 2016 and 2017. In just two years:

Three women died by su***de: two physicians, Dr. Deelshad Joomun and Dr. Esha Baichoo, and one medical student, Kathryn Stascavage.

These deaths involved individuals from diverse backgrounds (two were originally from Mauritius), and at least two took their lives by jumping from the same 33-story hospital residential building.

Colleagues reported a culture of silence, lack of transparent communication or public mourning by the institution, and insufficient institutional support or investigation into the root causes of these su***des.

This cluster drew attention in the press and among physician su***de prevention activists, but—reflecting broader trends in medicine—official tracking and systemic investigation by accrediting organizations was lacking.

SEPTEMBER 17 IS NATIONAL PHYSICIAN SU***DE AWARENESS DAY.

See https://DoctorLifeline.org and https://DrLornaBreen.org for more information, and how you can help.

12/09/2025

Did you know that su***de is the third leading cause of death for non-surgical doctors? For surgeons it's the 4th leading cause of death, after auto accidents. Makes sense, surgeons often don't get enough sleep and have to drive into the hospital at all hours.

Did you know that female doctors complete su***de at a rate 4 times higher than in other professions, and even higher compared to women in the general population?

September 17 is National Physician Su***de Awareness day.

Find out more at DoctorLifeline.org and DrLornaBreen.org.

You can make a difference.

30/08/2025

September is su***de prevention month.

Doctor Lifeline works to shield doctors and health-care workers from hostile and toxic elements in the medical workplace.

Visit https://DoctorLifeline.org and https://drlornabreen.org to learn more.

03/12/2024

Too many health care workers lose their lives to su***de.

This Giving Tuesday, you can help to change that by clicking the DONATE button, above. Donations are tax deductible.
Visit www.DoctorLifeline.org to find out more.

29/11/2024

Please help Doctor Lifeline and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation prevent health care worker su***des. If you can't make a tax deductible donation this Giving Tuesday but still want to help, please contact your representatives in the US Congress and ask them to support the reauthorization and funding of the Doctor Lorna Breen Health Care Provider Protection Act. https://www.house.gov/representa.../find-your-representative
https://doctorlifeline.org
https://drlornabreen.org

16/09/2024

06/09/2024

Mayor Ward presents proclamation to Doctor Lifeline.

06/09/2024

The City of Gainesville formally recognizes Doctor Lifeline, the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, and National Physician Su***de Awareness Day (September 17).

Please visit https://DoctorLifeline.org to see how you can help.

11/05/2024

Ever wonder how to win when dealing with bureaucrats? Watch this 7 minute video! I wish someone had taught me these tips in med school!

Music from (free for Creators!):
https://uppbeat.io/t/monument-music/nostalgic-moment
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Hayek photo
By The original uploader was DickClarkMises at English Wikipedia. - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by JohnDoe0007 using CommonsHelper., CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9473860

20/04/2024

The following is from Dr. Tom Gedmon, posted on Linked-In. Think of it as a glimpse into the mind of a typical doctor practicing in the U.S. today --

Dear patient at 10.15am,

Thank you for seeing me earlier.

I hope you were reassured by my assessment that you have a self limiting viral illness that is unlikely to be cancer.

I sensed that you wanted to tell me something else and I feel ashamed that I couldn’t give you that time today.

The truth is, we are given such short on call appointments for ‘emergencies’ and we are under pressure from multiple angles to see as many people as possible.

Not least because we have a visit list at the end of clinic of patients that might be incredibly unwell and vulnerable. I want to see them to avoid a hospital admission because I fear the worst if they are subjected to up to 24 hour waits there.

Also we have our admin on top of an on call list of 20-30 patients. I had a few screen messages for urgent tasks when you walked in that lay in the back of my mind but I assure you I was focused completely on the immediate concerns you raised and ruled out pneumonia, sepsis and other serious conditions.

As I was writing my notes I could sense your sadness but I felt afraid of letting it in because of the amount of other commitments I had.

I sometimes worry that by opening people up it will either take 20 minutes that I don’t have to help or I will have to callously close down the conversation. Or be forced to reach for a prescription to medicalise what is a natural human reaction to pressure and adverse circumstances.

Sorry to overshare but I’m having my own concerns at home. My partner is arguing why I’m home late overnight. I don’t get to take the kids to school or put them to bed. At the weekends I’m working on admin and trying to keep our team and GP surgery afloat despite unprecedented rise in demand, rise in costs and no suitable match in funding.

I’m struggling and really I should book in with my own GP but I don’t have time to wait for an hour on the phone.

And I will probably not be able to tell them the real extent of my suffering.

So currently I’ve closed down under the stress. Being honest, my compassion for patients was the first casualty despite being something I prided in myself.

And this makes me feel so ashamed at times it hurts.

But I can’t hurt for long as I need to push on.

This isn't your fault. Your suffering is real and important.

I would have loved to have had the time to notice you holding back your tears but I just couldn’t today.

And I’m so sorry.

Your GP

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