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When a doctor dies
Responding after an unexpected death or suicide
"As doctors, we deal with death and grief as part of our job. We help others navigate through it, prepare them for it. But when it’s one of us, it hits differently. You’d think we’d be able to handle it, but it’s just not that simple. There’s something profound about losing a medical colleague; it shakes us to our core.”
When a doctor dies: Responding after an Unexpected Death or Suicide
This pdf document is a guide to support NSW hospital managers and leaders in responding to the unexpected death of a doctor, including by suicide.
Doctors Affected by Suicide Research Study 2024
Doctors' Health NSW in collaboration with The University of Notre Dame Australia, conducted a research study to explore doctors' experiences following the unexpected death of a medical colleague due to suicide, misadventure or other causes.
The study aimed to understand the personal and occupational effects of such losses, identify available support structures, and determine what participating doctors found helpful or unhelpful.
The research study is currently being submitted for publication and will be available here shortly. If you would like to request a copy of the research study publication, please contact Doctors' Health NSW.
Support Services
If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call Emergency Services on 000
The Suicide Safety Plan is a free app that allows users to create a digital suicide safety plan. A suicide safety plan can help to keep you safe when you are low, overwhelmed and having thoughts of suicide.
Suicide - Truths and Myths
Professor Dame Clare Gerada is President of the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP). She is also Chair of the Charity Doctors in Distress, whose aim is to reduce the rate of suicide amongst health professionals.
Sansone RA, Sansone LA. Physician suicide: a fleeting moment of despair. Psychiatry (Edgmont). 2009; 6(1):18-22.
Spiers J, Causer H, Efstathiou N, Chew-Graham CA, Gopfert A, Grayling K, Maben J, van Hove M, Riley R. Negotiating the postvention situation: A grounded theory of NHS staff experiences when supporting their coworkers following a colleague's suicide. Death Stud. 2024; 48(9):937-947.
Visser V, Tretheway R. A Longitudinal Study of the Impact of a Suicide Bereavement Service on People Bereaved by Suicide. Omega (Westport). 2023 Jul 9:302228231188751.
