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Encountering Patient Suicide: A Resident’s Experience

Received June 18, 2006; revised August 29, 2006; accepted September 21, 2006. From the Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University/McGaw Medical Center, Chicago, Illinois. Address correspondence to Dr. Fang, Department of Psychiatry, Northwestern University/McGaw Medical Center, 446 East Ontario Street, Suite 7-200, Chicago, IL 60611; farrahfang{at}gmail.com (e-mail).

OBJECTIVE: The authors reviewed the current literature for psychiatry residents’ reactions to the suicide of a patient. This review also examines the responses of training programs to residents after such an incident. METHOD: Using Ovid Medline, the authors conducted a review of the scientific literature from 1966 to 2006, with search phrases consisting of: "patient suicide," "residency training programs," "psychiatry residents," and "therapists-in-training." RESULTS: There are a limited number of studies exploring residents’ experiences following a patient suicide. Furthermore, only two studies examined the supportive measures that U.S. psychiatry training programs provide for residents afterwards. The few studies published suggest that the suicide of a patient is quite common during training and that residents undergo significant levels of psychological stress. Residency programs have yet to establish formal training and support systems to help trainees deal with these stressors. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this review support further investigation into the effects of patient suicide on residents and the implementation of formal supports within psychiatry training.

Related Article:

Encountering Patient Suicide: Emotional Responses, Ethics, and Implications for Training Programs

John H. Coverdale, Laura Weiss Roberts, and Alan K. Louie
Acad Psychiatry 2007 31: 329-332. [Full Text] [PDF]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. H. Coverdale, L. W. Roberts, and A. K. Louie Encountering Patient Suicide: Emotional Responses, Ethics, and Implications for Training Programs Acad Psychiatry, October 1, 2007; 31(5): 329 - 332. [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Sudak Encountering Patient Suicide: The Role of Survivors Acad Psychiatry, October 1, 2007; 31(5): 333 - 335. [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. C. Schwartz, N. J. Kaslow, and W. M. McDonald Encountering Patient Suicide: A Requirement of the Residency Program Curriculum Acad Psychiatry, October 1, 2007; 31(5): 338 - 339. [Full Text] [PDF]

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