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Doctors Committing Suicide: Trend in Medical Community Jaiden Baker Department of English, Grand Canyon University English 105 Dr. Santos October 5th, 2020

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Jaiden Baker ENG-105 September 23rd,2020 Dr. Jan Santos

Doctors Committing Suicide: Trend in Medical Community

Thesis Statement: It is no secret that suicide is at an all time high, but the group with rising numbers is surprising. We all know doctors as the ones who fix us and help us when we need it, but did you know they struggle and need help as well? Many of them feel crippled both physically and emotionally by the challenges and adversity they face day in and day out. According to the editorial “Why Do Doctors Commit Suicide” Dr. and author Pranay Sinha credits this to increased pressure/responsibility, insane workload(hours), and the looming fear of failing; they feel isolated and alone, which leads them to contemplate suicide as a way to relieve them of the stress and pressure they are engulfed by. He argues throughout the editorial that things need to change in the workplace in order to allow doctors to relax, manage, and express their feelings and that by doing that it would make them better doctors. The argument is relevant and successful in the sense that it shows reasons why things need to change, but is rhetorically ineffective because of his incorrect use of the correct intended audience. Although, his audience is incorrect, his use of ethos, pathos, and logos are effective and bolster his argument that things need to change for the work environment for doctors. Dr. Pranay Sinha, author of “Why Do Doctors Commit Suicide” fails and makes an error by failing to establish the correct intended audience.Throughout the editorial he is talking about all the things interns and residents have to deal with and is writing to them about what they all go through and that invalidates his argument that their work environments need to be changed because he addressed other residents who have no power in making that change instead of writing to Hospital owners and the people who

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are in charge of doctor’s scheduling and workload. In the editorial it states,” But as soon as that M.D. is appended to our names in May, our self-expectations skyrocket, as if the conferral of the degree were an enchantment of infallibility. The internal pressure to excel is tremendous: after, all we are real doctors now”(Sinha, 2014, para. 7). With this quote the author is establishing himself as a doctor and solidifies his intended audience as fellow doctors because they are the only ones who can understand the pressure and statistics he is writing about throughout the editorial. The problem with his intended audience is it will not produce the change or that emotional relief that they all desire because other doctors are not the people who have the power to turn those dreams into reality. “ A medical culture that encourages us to share these vulnerabilities could help us realize that we are not alone and find comfort and increased connection with our peers. It could also make it easier for residents who are at risk to ask for help. And I believe it would make us all better doctors”(Sinha, 2014, para. 11). It is evident that with this quote that his entire editorial is focused on the struggles doctors like himself face and changes they would like to see. By doing this Dr. Sinha’s argument is rendered rhetorically ineffective since it is geared towards other doctors rather than those who have the power to make the changes they would like to see.

The author for the most part uses ethos effectively because by establishing his position as a doctor he simultaneously establishes credibility since he has 1st hand experience with the things he talks about in his editorial. Throughout his editorial Sinha writes about the experiences of medical professionals and what they go through both physically and mentally. He establishes his credibility by including the fact that he is a doctor as well and knows what they go through. In the editorial it states,”Doctors, especially fledgling doctors like me, feel pressure to project intellectual, emotional, and physical prowess beyond what we truly possess”(Sinha 2014, para. 5). By using personal pronouns such as me and we, Sinha proves to us that he has credibility and his own personal experience to bolster his ethos used in the editorial. Ethos is effective towards the intended audience and any reader in that matter because everyone can see that as a doctor himself he knows what they go through so everything he writes about can be seen as credible, thus as I said before makes the ethos used effective in his editorial.

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The logos found in the editorial is insubstantial and overall does not efficiently support his argument and is found to be quite ineffective. Sinha appeals to logos by including statistics regarding the percentage of medical interns and residents who have contemplated suicide. The number is increasing and in the editorial it states,” In a recent study, 9.4% of 4th year medical students reported having suicidal thoughts”(Sinha 2014, para. 2). While the quote tries to establish the logic behind the pressure of suicide, it fails to have an affect on the intended audience because it is only implying to the medical interns and not the ones who can change the conditions that make these medical professionals ponder on suicide. The other piece of logos found in the editorial is when Sinha writes,” Some 400 doctors commit suicide every year”(Sinha 2014, para. 2) and that quote once again fails to establish any credibility with the intended audience and it also fails to say what makes them want to commit suicide, which at that point renders his argument and use of logos useless because he has no credibility towards his claim throughout the editorial. Pathos is the most effective form of rhetoric found in this editorial and is used as a good way to bolster his argument. Sinha captivates the emotions of the reader by allowing them to see the insane amount of pressure and stress they face day in and day out, which elicits sympathy from the reader. Dr. Sinha writes,”The internal pressure to excel is tremendous: after all, we are real doctors now”(Sinha 2014, para. 7), this quote depicts the internal stress these doctors have to suffer through just for the betterment of other people that they do not know. That idea alone is enough to garner sympathy from anyone who knows the situation or has been through something similar. That connection is what makes his use of pathos effective on his audience and for his argument since the readers feel and understand him. Readers are expected to relate and feel connected to the stress and pressure since everyone has gone through something like that. The author’s informational and depictive tone helps readers see and understand the gravity of the situation and allows the reader to see that the stress is serious and not being over exaggerated, which is also effective in the form of pathos since the situation is understood by the audience, which could potentially make the change that these doctors want happen, if the right people are reading his editorial. While his audience is still incorrect, the pathos found in the editorial is still the most effective rhetorical device used in the editorial.

Overall in conclusion, Sinha’s editorial is rhetorically ineffective and ultimately won’t lead to the change in medical culture he and other medical professionals desire. Apart from appealing to the wrong intended audience, his use of ethos, pathos and logos were also largely ineffective as was his editorial “Why Do Doctors Commit Suicide” .

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References: ●

Sinha, P. (2014, September 5). Why do doctors commit suicide? The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/05/opinion/why-do-doctors-commit-suicide. html...