Doctor Suicide Profit Theory

Calley Means, a former healthcare industry consultant turned health advocate, shares his perspective on why doctors have the highest suicide and burnout rates of any profession. His view stems from firsthand experience in the healthcare industry and observations of systemic issues.

Key Points:

• Healthcare System Design

  • Creates plausible deniability where no one takes full responsibility
  • Takes good people and puts them in a system with perverse incentives
  • Profits from people being sick rather than getting healthy

• Doctor's Internal Conflict

  • Many enter medicine with genuine desire to help people
  • Medical school requires 9 years of intensive training
  • Attracts "best and brightest" who want to make a difference
  • Eventually realize they're complicit in a system profiting from illness
  • Feel trapped after investing significant time in training

• Evidence of System Recognition

  • Senior medical leaders privately acknowledge system problems
  • Many know healthcare system is "running the country off a cliff"
  • Doctors feel powerless to change the system
  • Results in high rates of depression and suicide

• Medical Education Issues

  • First day of medical school, told patients "won't stop eating Big Macs"
  • Taught to focus on prescription pad and scalpel
  • 90% graduate without taking nutrition classes
  • System delegitimizes exploration of root causes

• Systemic Change Needed

  • Current system is unsustainable
  • Needs more "Elon Musk energy" - people willing to do what's right regardless of profit
  • Requires entrepreneurs thinking about changing healthcare
  • Must move away from profit-from-illness model