The healthcare industry needs to address physician suicides and burnout, according to Edward Ellison, MD, executive medical director and chairman of Southern California Permanente Medical Group, based in Pasadena.
Speaking at the CNBC Healthy Returns conference on May 21, Dr. Ellison pointed to data that indicates one physician dies by suicide every day in the U.S., at a rate 1.41 times higher than the general population for male physicians and 2.27 times higher for female physicians. For medical school students, the rate of suicide is three times higher than the general population, according to CNBC's coverage of Dr. Ellison's speech.
Physicians are "stressed to the point of breaking," he said, due largely to workload. He called on hospitals and health systems to improve and expand support for physicians and medical students, as well as to reduce the stigma around seeking help.
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