Physicians on the Frontlines: Understanding the Lived Experience of Physicians Working in Communities That Experienced a Mass Casualty Shooting

Kathleen M O'Neill; Blake N Shultz; Carolyn T Lye; Megan L Ranney; Gail D'Onofrio; Edouard Coupet

doi:10.1177/1073110520979402

Physicians on the Frontlines: Understanding the Lived Experience of Physicians Working in Communities That Experienced a Mass Casualty Shooting

J Law Med Ethics. 2020 Dec;48(4_suppl):55-66. doi: 10.1177/1073110520979402.

Authors

Kathleen M O'Neill¹, Blake N Shultz¹, Carolyn T Lye¹, Megan L Ranney¹, Gail D'Onofrio¹, Edouard Coupet¹

Affiliation

¹ Kathleen M. O'Neill, M.D., is a general surgery resident at Yale New Haven Hospital. She is currently completing a Ph.D. at the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in New Haven, CT through the Investigative Medicine Program. She received her BA from Columbia University (2008) in New York City, NY and her M.D. from University of Pennsylvania (2015) in Philadelphia, PA. Blake N. Shultz is a fifth-year medical student at Yale School of Medicine and a second-year law student at Yale Law School, in New Haven, CT. He is also a fellow at the Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy at Yale Law School. He received his B.A. from Cornell University (2015) in Ithaca, NY. Carolyn T. Lye is a fourth-year medical student at Yale School of Medicine and a first-year law student at Yale Law School in New Haven, CT. She received her B.A. from University of Pennsylvania (2016) in Philadelphia, PA. Megan L. Ranney, M.D., M.P.H., is an Associate Professor Emergency Medicine at Alpert Medical School and Directof of the Center for Digital Health at Brown University. She is also Chief Research Officer for the American Foundation for Firearm Injury Reduction in Medicine (AFFIRM Research). Gail D'Onofrio, M.D., M.S., is Professor and Chair of Emergency Medicine at Yale School of Medicine and Professor in the School of Public Health. She is also the Chief of Emergency Services for Yale New Haven Hospital. Edouard Coupet, Jr., M.D., M.S., is a National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA)-sponsored Yale Drug Use, Addiction, and HIV Scholar (DARHS) and Assistant Professor in Emergency Medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital. He received his M.D. from the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine (2012). He received his Master's in Health Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine (2018).

Abstract

This qualitative study describes the lived experience of physicians who work in communities that have experienced a public mass shooting. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen physicians involved in eight separate mass casualty shooting incidents in the United States. Four major themes emerged from constant comparative analysis: (1) The psychological toll on physicians: "I wonder if I'm broken"; (2) the importance of and need for mass casualty shooting preparedness: "[We need to] recognize this as a public health concern and train physicians to manage it"; (3) massive media attention: "The media onslaught was unbelievable"; and (4) commitment to advocacy for a public health approach to firearm violence: "I want to do whatever I can to prevent some of these terrible events."

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Female
Gun Violence / psychology*
Humans
Male
Mass Casualty Incidents / psychology*
Middle Aged
Physicians / psychology*
Qualitative Research
Residence Characteristics
United States

Abstract

MeSH terms

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