Medical school mourns following student's apparent suicide

Second-year medical student Carrie Largent died in an apparent suicide early Saturday morning, March 11. She was 25.

Largent, a 2002 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who graduated Phi Beta Kappa, will be buried near her home in Chadds Ford, Penn., according to an obituary on the Grieco Family Funeral Homes website.

"Our thoughts go out to Carrie's family and friends, and we encourage our faculty, staff, and students to offer support to each other at this difficult time," Edward Halperin, vice dean of the School of Medicine, wrote in a letter to the Duke community March 13. "We will keep them in our prayers.. We will honor and respect the memory of Carrie, a member of the Duke family, as we offer comfort and support to each other."

Largent's family has planned an 11 a.m. mass burial service Thursday, March 16, at Saint Masimilian Colbe Church in West Chester, Penn. Largent will be laid to rest at St. Patrick Cemetery in Kennett Square, Penn.

Halperin, along with Carolina Haynes, assistant clinical professor in the psychiatry and behavioral sciences department, have met with first- and second-year medical school students in the past few days. According to Halperin's letter, "a comprehensive group of counseling, psychological support, social work, pastoral, and bereavement counseling services" will be available for members of the School of Medicine community.

"You have my word, as an officer of the School of Medicine and as a fellow parent, that no effort will be spared in caring for and supporting. Duke [students] through this difficult time," Halperin wrote.

Monetary contributions in Largent's memory may be made to the Duke University Medical Center Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Largent is survived by her mother, father, brother and two sisters.