Teaching Psychiatry Residents About Suicide Loss: Impact of an Educational Program

Objective: The aim of this report is to study the impact of a pilot educational event on psychiatry residents' attitudes towards suicidal patients, understanding of their family members' experience, and intended management of patients who died by suicide.

Methods: A panel of suicide loss survivors spoke to psychiatry residents during an educational event. Psychiatry residents who attended the event were asked to complete a survey after the event.

Results: About a third of residents (29.4 %) reported encountering a patient suicide during training. Overall, psychiatry residents subjectively felt the program had a positive impact on their understanding of suicide loss and on their attitudes towards suicide and towards engagement with family members of patients who died by suicide.

Conclusions: The data collected in this study suggest that educational programs focused on patient suicide from the surviving families' perspective may have a positive impact on the attitudes and future practice of residents.