Psychiatrists’ first exposure to patient suicide often occurs during residency training. Previous research shows that experiencing a patient’s death by suicide during residency can have significant impacts on trainees’ well-being, self-esteem and approach to practice. However, existing research on this topic is mostly limited to survey-based data, which does not facilitate nuanced exploration. This study will use a qualitative approach to gain an in-depth understanding of Canadian psychiatry residents’ experiences of a patient’s death by suicide and the types of supports that may help trainees to process this loss and integrate this experience into their professional identity formation.

This study will conduct 15–25 semistructured qualitative interviews with psychiatry resident physicians across Canada to explore their experiences of patient loss by suicide during training. Interview data will be transcribed verbatim and analysed using the principles of Constructivist Grounded Theory.

The study findings will be reported and accessible to residency training programmes, the academic community, the media and the public.

This study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Protocol Identifying Number 2024/125).

The COVID-19 pandemic led to major disruptions in society across many spheres, including healthcare, the economy and social behaviours. While early predictions warned of an increased risk of suicide during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, rates of suicide deaths remained stable or decreased over that period for most countries. In contrast, the prevalence of suicidal ideation doubled and suicide attempts slightly increased during the COVID-19 pandemic in the adult general population worldwide, accompanied by a higher prevalence of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders. While these data can tell us what happened, they cannot tell us why. Qualitative suicide research seeks to understand experiences of individuals with suicide-related thoughts and behaviours, provides an in-depth exploration of their lives and interactions with others and centres their views and unique context. There is little qualitative research focusing on suicidality during the pandemic. This study will use a qualitative approach to explore the extent and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Canadians who experienced suicidality and review their experiences of accessing mental healthcare to identify key components in supporting safety and recovery.

This study will involve approximately 100 semistructured interviews with participants across four Canadian provinces and will explore experiences with suicide-related thoughts and behaviours during the COVID-19 pandemic. Transcripts will be analysed through qualitative analysis informed by constructivist grounded theory.

The study was approved by the Research Ethics Board of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto Academic Health Sciences Network (for JZ: CAMH REB No 104-2022). In addition to traditional peer-reviewed presentations and publications, a report will make study findings accessible to policy makers, media and the public.