Academic emergency physicians' experiences with patient death.

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Physician Well-being
• Medical Education

Background:

• Patient death is a significant stressor for physicians, impacting their well-being.
• There is a need for improved coping mechanisms and cultural/educational changes to address physician distress.
• Academic emergency physicians (EPs) face unique challenges related to patient mortality.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the effects of patient death on academic EPs.
• To identify coping mechanisms utilized by EPs after patient death.

Main Methods:

• A 15-question online survey was administered to faculty at four EM residency programs.
• Descriptive analysis was performed on survey data.
• Independent variables were analyzed for associations with physical symptoms or life changes post-death.

Main Results:

• 66% of surveyed EPs experienced patient death monthly; 24% received no training on coping.
• Common coping strategies included talking with colleagues (78%) and friends/family (69%).
• Physical symptoms like insomnia (37%) and emotional responses such as sadness (70%) were frequently reported; post-death debriefing was rare (64%).

Conclusions:

• Patient death causes significant physical and emotional distress in academic EPs.
• Infrequency of post-death debriefing and limited coping training highlight educational gaps.
• Further research is needed to develop effective coping strategies and integrate them into EM residency training.