by Alex Vosooney, MD, MAFP Immediate Past President
Early in my career, a colleague and I were discussing a mutual professional acquaintance who was clearly struggling with depression and anxiety. My colleague stated that our acquaintance wasn’t seeking care as they were afraid of the implications it could have for their medical license. Over time our acquaintance seemed to improve—an outcome not all physicians share.
- Physicians are twice as likely as the general population to die by suicide (1).
- Ten percent of family physicians report suicidal thoughts (2).
- Female physicians die by suicide at a rate higher than their male counterparts (3).
REMEMBERING LORNA BREEN, MD
Over the summer, at the American Academy of Family Physicians Annual Chapter Leader Forum, I had the opportunity to hear from the family of a physician who was lost to suicide, Lorna Breen, MD.
Breen worked as an emergency room physician in New York City. During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked long hours, managed heavy patient loads and witnessed the shortages and deaths that were so prevalent at that time.
She contracted COVID and, when she returned to work, there was a sharp downturn in her mental health. Her family was able to obtain care for her, but Breen was concerned that having received mental health care would put her medical license in jeopardy. She died by suicide shortly after leaving care.
REFORMING MENTAL HEALTH REPORTING REQUIREMENTS
Breen’s family learned after her death that her fear had a solid basis—several state medical boards and credentialing committees required disclosure of current or past mental health care. Her family then formed the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation, an organization dedicated to advising the health care industry on implementing well–being initiatives, building awareness of mental health issues and reducing stigma and funding research and programs that will improve physician well-being and reduce professional burnout.
One of the initiatives of the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation is to reform licensing and credentialing questions, specifically to remove intrusive questions about mental health. They offer a toolkit (available at drlornabreen.org/removebarriers) to help providers approach their medical board and credentialing committee.
We can be proud to practice in a state that has already taken action as a result of advocacy work by medical students, professional societies and advocacy groups. To support health care provider well-being, the Minnesota Board of Medical Practice made changes to their license application that went into effect in January 2022.
The current language states: “Do you currently have any condition that is not being appropriately treated which is likely to impair or adversely affect your ability to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety in a competent, ethical and professional manner?”
While our state medical board now offers less intrusive questions, not all credentialing committees may have updated their language. We owe it to our colleagues and ourselves to make sure that fear of professional limitations is not a barrier to seeking mental health care. If you find that your organization’s questions are overly intrusive, please visit the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation website (www.drlornabreen.org) for resources you can use to help create positive change.
REFERENCES
- Physician burnout and moral injury: the hidden healthcare crisis [infographic]. National Institute for Health Care Management; 2021. nihcm.org/publications/
physician-burnout-suicide-the-hidden-health-care-crisis - A tragedy of the profession: Medscape physician suicide report. Medscape; 2022. www.medscape.com/slideshow/2022-physician-suicide-report-6014970
- Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes Foundation. www.drlornabreen.org
About the author: Alex Vosooney, MD, is the Immediate Past President of the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians and has been a practicing family physician for 10 years.
