Office of Primary Care and Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program

Larner Class of 2026 medical student Khadija Moussadek

(SEPTEMBER 13, 2024) Larner Class of 2026 medical student Khadija Moussadek commented to WCAX-TV for a story on a suicide prevention symposium held in Randolph.

Vermont’s suicide rate is higher than the national average. In the recent symposium, the brightest minds in the region on mental health addressed how our community has struggled to prevent suicide in the past, and shared cutting-edge research on the path moving forward.

“Suicide is preventable, and the more that we talk about it, the more awareness we bring to this issue and the more comfortable people become with the stigma there is with it,” said Moussadek.

Improving clinician-patient relationships is just one way new research is helping to prevent suicide. In Burlington, Moussadek is creating an e-learning module to educate care providers on how and when to intervene with someone at risk. “There’s such a gap in knowledge and training for suicide prevention and identifying self-harm behaviors,” said Moussadek.

The symposium had almost 20 workshops and 150 attendees, each with innovative ideas for preventing suicide, but organizer say the most important takeaway is that there are multiple pathways to prevention.