Belarus has one of the worlds’ highest suicide rates (48.5/100000 men, 9.1/100000 women, 2008). The country's first suicide prevention project is carried out from 2009 to 2013 in two regions of the Minsk County (pop. 75,773) targeting on improving primary care physician's skills in diagnosing of depression and suicide risk assessment.

The aim of this paper was to investigate physician's attitudes changes towards work with suicidal patients through a training seminar and whether potential changes vary with the earlier experience of a patient's suicide.

90 physicians (60% of physician's stuff, 64.4% women) answered the questionnaire (40 items) before and after the 2 day courses (2009/2011) held by qualified psychiatrists. Chi-square test has been applied to investigate significance of pre/post differences.

Significant improvements regarding expectations, knowledge and collaboration for suicidal patients were noted after the training. Physicians more often perceived clarity in the organization of responsibilities for suicidal patients after the seminar than before (86% vs. 32%, p < 0.001). No improvements in the perceived possibility of preventing suicide were noted, still the vast majority (72%) considered suicide to be preventable before the seminar. There were no influence of patient's suicide experience (47% of the participants) on change in attitudes towards work with suicidal patients.

Job clarity and perceived knowledge were significantly improved through a 2-day educational training. No changes regarding the perceived possibility to prevent suicide were noted. Increased efforts to work with these issues are planned for the next round of training seminars.