Doctors Take the Mic

Suicides have risen during the COVID pandemic. Physician suicides are at an all time high. Now there are 300-400 suicides by physicians each year, equivalent to an entire medical school! This is equivalent to approximately 3 airplane crashes a year, all MDs. Female MDs commit suicide at 250% to 400% higher than females in other professions. In general, males commit suicide 4x more than females. But Female MD suicides are equal to Male MD suicides. What are the stressors for MDs during the COVID era: isolation, stress, watching patients die in front of you, inability to find time to relax during the COVID pandemic. The mask mandates, the inability to travel and pursue the usual hobbies may have led to a decline in mental health. Churches closed and were available on ZOOM only depriving families, physicians and their loved ones a place to contemplate, pray, grieve and worship. There was a lack of face-to-face counseling as most counseling services went online.

The major risk factors in physician suicides are depression, bipolar depression, alcoholism and substance abuse. Alcohol consumption during COVID rose significantly. Online alcohol sales rose by 262% in 2020-2021. In-person alcohol sales increased 54% during that same time period.

Medical Students have a higher rate of depression than the general population, 15-30% higher, by some estimates. Residents-in-training suffer from depression and may not be able to talk about it to their supervisors. In addition, the medical culture expects stoicism from its trainees and staff. Mental health problems are cloaked in shame.

Physicians have a higher "completion to attempt" ratio because of their knowledge of lethal drugs. In addition, the physicians are able to access these lethal drugs more easily than other professions. The doctors also have the knowledge of how to successfully commit suicide because of their medical training.

If anyone listening to the podcast has suicidal thoughts, call the Suicide Hotline 855-278-4204 for San Jose, CA. Or text RENEW to 741741 to speak to a counselor.

Cybersecurity is a problem in medical offices and hospitals. 45 million people were affected in 2021, a 41% increase over 2020. In 2020, 34 million people were affected and in 2018, 14 million people were affected. Outpatient clinics and subspecialty clinics were targetted preferentially. Hospital systems were also targetted. The reasons were ransomware, credential harvesting or theft of devices such as laptops.

Be careful with passwords and some physicians are using Lastpass.com as a password management tool. Another popular one is Dashlane.com.

Important to note that SMS, texting, is protected by the federal government. Apple iPhone message system has "end to end" encryption, better than Whatsapp and Signal (private messenger apps). Google and Droid phones are least safe because it encrypts only between the device and the server. Thus when sending messages about patients, the iPhone is safer than droid phones.

The ending of the COVID-19 Emergency Status will occur on May 11, 2023. This will mean, that COVID vaccines will not be free anymore. No more free COVID testing. However, if you have health insurance, you can still get a COVID vaccine. But at-home tests may not be covered. Check your insurance carrier.

If you are not vaccinated, get the free COVID vaccine now.

Paxlovid as a treatment for COVID-19 for those with "at-risk" conditions will not be free. It will be up to your insurance carrier.

Telehealth services may not be covered so keep asking your insurance carrier about these exams via ZOOM, facetime, and telephone.

Each state will decide how to cover some of these telehealth costs. So keep reading the newspapers!

How will we lead now that it is the new year? We have new challenges each day. How can we always embrace the positive? Remember to look at your personal mission statement. Examine your "Why"-- it is empowering!

Say only the yes word to yourself. Eliminate the negative in your workplace. Get everyone on the team to see the positive.

How do Men lead and how do Women lead? Is there a difference. What is the goal of the company or the organization? As a woman leader, how can you find your voice to lead?

Inner critics, we all have them. Can we be better? Can we get additional degrees? Can I see more patients faster? Be a better surgeon, be a better physician, be more beautiful, be smarter? How do we silence these inner voices and move on?

Is your leadership style conducive for growth? What about humility and sensitivity? Is there a role for compassion in leading?

Why do women physicians hesitate to speak at meetings or conferences? Do men have the same feelings? Do we have an inner critic? What does that mean? What is imposter syndrome? What holds women back?

Hillary Clinton's concession speech on Election Night in November 2016 talked about the glass ceiling. How are women physicians dealing with the glass ceiling? Is it gone or is there more work to do?