Any death by suicide is a tragedy, and whatever the rate is for surgeons it's too high. This is especially true because there are some protective factors for surgeons - high pay, stable employment, and close connections to health care.<p>But it's simply incorrect to say that surgeons, or doctors in general, have high rates of death by suicide.<p>Whenever anyone presents information about suicide it's important to ask what's being counted, how is it being counted, and who is doing the analysis.<p>Here's CDC suicide rates by industry: <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6903a1.htm" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6903a1.htm</a><p>And Male and female suicide rates per 100,000 civilian, noninstitutionalized working persons aged 16-64 years for major industry groups meeting reporting criteria: <a href="https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/84274" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/84274</a><p>The rate for healthcare is 7.5 per 100,000 population, but that's driven by female nurses (who have a higher rate of death by suicide than doctors).<p>> Compared with rates in the total study population, suicide rates were significantly higher in five major industry groups: 1) Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction (males); 2) Construction (males); 3) Other Services (e.g., automotive repair) (males); 4) Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing, and Hunting (males); and 5) Transportation and Warehousing (males and females). Rates were also significantly higher in six major occupational groups: 1) Construction and Extraction (males and females); 2) Installation, Maintenance, and Repair (males); 3) Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media (males); 4) Transportation and Material Moving (males and females); 5) Protective Service (females); and 6) Healthcare Support (females).