Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

A National Survey of Medical Student Suicides

  • Empirical Report
  • Published:
Academic Psychiatry Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

Because there is no current information on medical student suicides, the authors surveyed US medical schools about deaths by suicide of medical students from June 2006 to July 2011.

Methods

In spring through summer of 2012, the authors sent electronic surveys to the 133 accredited US allopathic medical schools at the time, excluding Puerto Rican schools. The 15-item survey included questions about deaths by suicide and deaths by means other than suicide. In the case of a reported suicide, the survey obtained information regarding demographic characteristics and method of suicide.

Results

The 90 responding schools (response rate 69 %) reported a total of six suicides (four males, two females; five Caucasians, one Asian) from July 2006 to June 2011. Two deaths by suicide occurred in first year, two in second year, and two in third year. Two of the suicides occurred by gunshot, two by hanging, one by overdose, and for one, the cause of death was unknown. Three of the six students left a suicide note.

Conclusion

Although the number and rate of suicides among medical students may be lower than a prior survey that was conducted more than 15 years ago, these data affirm the importance of suicide prevention programs for medical students.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Murphy SL, Xu J, Kochanek KD: Deaths: preliminary data for 2010. National Vital Statistics Reports 2012; 60

  2. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics: Underlying cause of death 1999–2010 on CDC WONDER online database, 2012; available at http://wonder.cdc.gov/ucd-icd10.html. accessed January 9, 2013

  3. Compton MT, Carrera J, Frank E. Stress and depressive symptoms/dysphoria among US medical students: results from a large, nationally representative survey. J Nerv Ment Dis. 2008;196:891–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Dyrbye LN, Harper W, Durning SJ, et al. Patterns of distress in US medical students. Med Teach. 2011;33:834–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Dyrbye LN, Thomas MR, Massie FS, et al. Burnout and suicidal ideation among U.S. medical students. Ann Intern Med. 2008;149:334–41.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Goebert D, Thompson D, Takeshita J, et al. Depressive symptoms in medical students and residents: a multischool study. Acad Med. 2009;84:236.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Schwenk TL, Davis L, Wimsatt LA. Depression, stigma, and suicidal ideation in medical students. JAMA. 2010;304:1181–90.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Alexandrino-Silva C, Pereira ML, Bustamante C, et al. Suicidal ideation among students enrolled in healthcare training programs: a cross-sectional study. Rev Bras Psiquiatr. 2009;31:338–44.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Curran TA, Gawley E, Casey P, Gill M, Crumlish N. Depression, suicidality and alcohol abuse among medical and business students. Ir Med J. 2009;102:249–52.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Eskin M, Voracek M, Stieger S, Altinyazar V. A cross-cultural investigation of suicidal behavior and attitudes in Austrian and Turkish medical students. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2011;46:813–23.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Tyssen R, Vaglum P, Gronvold NT, Ekeberg O. Suicidal ideation among medical students and young physicians: a nationwide and prospective study of prevalence and predictors. J Affect Disord. 2001;64:69–79.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Dyrbye LN, Thomas MR, Shanafelt TD. Systematic review of depression, anxiety, and other indicators of psychological distress among US and Canadian medical students. Acad Med. 2006;81:354–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Baca-Garcia E, Perez-Rodriguez MM, Oquendo MA, et al. Estimating risk for suicide attempt: are we asking the right questions? Passive suicidal ideation as a marker for suicidal behavior. J Affect Disord. 2011;134:327–32.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Beck AT, Brown GK, Steer RA, Dahlsgaard KK, Grisham JR. Suicide ideation at its worst point: a predictor of eventual suicide in psychiatric outpatients. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behav. 1999;29:1–9.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Blair-West GW, Cantor CH, Mellsop GW, Eyeson-Annan ML. Lifetime suicide risk in major depression: sex and age determinants. J Affect Disord. 1999;55:171–8.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Bulik CM, Carpenter LL, Kupfer DJ, Frank E. Features associated with suicide attempts in recurrent major depression. J Affect Disord. 1990;18:29–37.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Gould MS, King R, Greenwald S, et al. Psychopathology associated with suicidal ideation and attempts among children and adolescents. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 1998;37:915–23.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Malone KM, Haas GL, Sweeney JA, Mann JJ. Major depression and the risk of attempted suicide. J Affect Disord. 1995;34:173–85.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Simon HJ. Mortality among medical students, 1947–1967. J Med Educ. 1968;43:1175–82.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Everson RB, Fraumeni Jr JF. Mortality among medical students and young physicians. J Med Educ. 1975;50:809–11.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Pepitone-Arreola-Rockwell F, Rockwell D, Core N. Fifty-two medical student suicides. Am J Psychiatry. 1981;138:198–201.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Hays LR, Cheever T, Patel P. Medical student suicide, 1989–1994. Am J Psychiatry. 1996;153:553–5.

    PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Austenfeld JL, Paolo AM, Stanton AL. Effects of writing about emotions versus goals on psychological and physical health among third-year medical students. J Pers. 2006;74:267–86.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Bloodgood RA, Short JG, Jackson JM, Martindale JR. A change to pass/fail grading in the first two years at one medical school results in improved psychological well-being. Acad Med. 2009;84:655–62.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Dare AJ, Petrie KJ, Bagg W. Prepared for practice? Medical students’ perceptions of a shortened final year medical programme. N Z Med J. 2009;122:32–43.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Finkelstein C, Brownstein A, Scott C, Lan YL. Anxiety and stress reduction in medical education: an intervention. Med Educ. 2007;41:258–64.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Guthrie E, Black D, Shaw C, Hamilton J, Creed F, Tomenson B. Psychological stress in medical students: a comparison of two very different university courses. Stress Med. 1998;13:179–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Kiessling C, Schubert B, Scheffner D, Burger W. First year medical students’ perceptions of stress and support: a comparison between reformed and traditional track curricula. Med Educ. 2004;38:504–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Reed DA, Shanafelt TD, Satele DW, et al. Relationship of pass/fail grading and curriculum structure with well-being among preclinical medical students: a multi-institutional study. Acad Med. 2011;86:1367–73.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Rohe DE, Barrier PA, Clark MM, Cook DA, Vickers KS, Decker PA. The benefits of pass-fail grading on stress, mood, and group cohesion in medical students. Mayo Clin Proc. 2006;81:1443–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  31. Rosenzweig S, Reibel DK, Greeson JM, Brainard GC, Hojat M. Mindfulness-based stress reduction lowers psychological distress in medical students. Teach Learn Med. 2003;15:88–92.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Shapiro SL, Schwartz GE, Bonner G. Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on medical and premedical students. J Behav Med. 1998;21:581–99.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  33. Warnecke E, Quinn S, Ogden K, Towle N, Nelson MR. A randomised controlled trial of the effects of mindfulness practice on medical student stress levels. Med Educ. 2011;45:381–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  34. Whitehouse WG, Dinges DF, Orne EC, et al. Psychosocial and immune effects of self-hypnosis training for stress management throughout the first semester of medical school. Psychosom Med. 1996;58:249–63.

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  35. Shiralkar M, Harris TB, Eddins-Folensbee FF, Coverdale JH: A systematic review of stress-management programs for medical students. Acad Psychiatry. [In Press].

  36. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Suicide and self-inflicted injury, 2012; available at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/suicide.htm. accessed January 17, 2013.

  37. Association of American Medical Colleges. AAMC FACTS: total enrollment by U.S. medical school and sex, 2012; available at https://www.aamc.org/data/facts/enrollmentgraduate/158808/total-enrollment-by-medical-school-by-sex.html. accessed January 7, 2013.

Download references

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Nancy Searle, Ed.D., who assisted in the early stages of this project.

Disclosure

On behalf of all the authors, the corresponding author states that there are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA

    Jacklyn Cheng, Shelley Kumar, Elizabeth Nelson, Toi Harris & John Coverdale

Authors
  1. Jacklyn Cheng
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shelley Kumar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Elizabeth Nelson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Toi Harris
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. John Coverdale
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to John Coverdale.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Cheng, J., Kumar, S., Nelson, E. et al. A National Survey of Medical Student Suicides. Acad Psychiatry 38, 542–546 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-014-0075-1

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40596-014-0075-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation