MORTALITY OF YOUNG PHYSICIANS IN THE UNITED-STATES, 1980-1988

Background. The obituary section of most issues of JAMA announces the death of at least one physician under the age of 40 years. The prematu re death of a physician is a significant loss to society. Method. The authors ascertained the mortality of physicians ages 25 to 39 years oc curring from January 1, 1980, through December 31, 1988, from obituary listings in JAMA, and calculated mortality rates by gender and age. D eath certificates were sought for all decedents listed as residing in California, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. Cause of death was investigate d for this subset. Results. There were 835 young-physician fatalities reported in JAMA during the study period, (an average of 93 deaths per year). The mortality rate among female doctors was 26/100,000; among male doctors it was 40/100,000. The mortality rate of young doctors wa s less than half that of the general population of white persons of th e same age. Of the 122 deaths for which a death certificate was locate d, 45 (37%) were due to disease, 32 were suicides (26%), 31 were unint entional injuries (25%), and five (4%) were homicides. Conclusion. You ng physicians enjoy a considerable mortality advantage over non-physic ians of similar age. If the study findings in the death certificate sa mple are generalizable, at least half of the deaths of young physician s are theoretically preventable (suicides, homicides, and unintentiona l injuries). Residency program directors should consider how their tra ining programs may affect the likelihood of a young physician's dying from a preventable cause.