On September 25, the Office of Well-Being hosted the second annual Suicide in Healthcare and Science conference. This year saw over 400 clinical faculty, staff, and fully-engaged students attendees, both in-person and virtual, concentrating on the theme "From Awareness to Action." The event focused on destigmatizing depression, properly addressing mental health concerns, and fostering a healthy classroom and workplace for medical students and professionals.

Keynote speaker Srijan Sen, MD, PhD, of the University of Michigan, spoke on "Reducing Depression and Suicide Risk in Training Physicians." The event offered lively discussion, candid honesty, personal reflection, and even the relief of laughter. "We all have ways of coping," Sen said. "My way of coping is doing research." That research included trends of depressive symptoms and anxiety, statistics on gender inequality, and even insight into genetic factors like telomeres.

Break-out sessions included discussions on cultivating compassion in medical training, implementing suicide prevention strategies for medical residents, and discussions of recognizing the difference between burnout and depression.

The conference fostered a healthy environment for attendees and presenters to break the taboo of discussing mental health in medical training, concluding with an emotional memorial service in remembrance of those they have lost to suicide.