My med school was 5k/year. At graduation, I left with 22K of loans. That was 1993. University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston—still one of the best deals in medical education (current tuition is 24K). During my first two years of family medicine residency on a salary of 30K/year, I paid off my loans. By age 36, I owned my house and was living debt free.
Now med students have 300K loans—or more. One mid-career physician friend has a debtload of 1 million—and growing. With compound interest it takes a lifetime to pay down med school debt. Some never do. I know trainees who have died by suicide next to unpaid med school bills, in essence their suicide note.
How can our doctors care for the most vulnerable and underserved patients when they themselves are so stressed by unmanageable debt? How can doctors live their dreams in medicine when many choose specialties based solely on perceived earning potential? Read more ›
If you are a doctor (or med student/health professional) and you are human, you’ve probably made a medical mistake. You’ve probably not received emotional support for the mistake. Maybe you’ve never told anyone about a mistake that still haunts you today.
The truth is most all physicians have admitted to medical mistakes sometime in their careers. Depending on the patient outcome, many doctors carry the distress of medical errors for months, years, even a lifetime. Some may even develop PTSD.
If you’ve experienced anxiety, depression, guilt, loss of confidence, or were haunted by intrusive thoughts in the aftermath of a medical error, you are normal. In fact, you’ve had second victim syndrome—a real condition that describes the psychological trauma a physician (or health professional) experiences as a result of an error.
I just got off the phone after speaking with a highly-skilled specialist suffering in isolation with grief, shame, and guilt after a recent medical mistake. During our hour long conversation she recalled another mistake from several years prior. I then shared de-identified case studies of other physicians I know (including my own) as examples of what not to do.
Top 3 ways NOT to respond to a medical error:
1) Do not die by suicide. I know of several physicians who have taken their own lives in the aftermath of making even a minor medical mistake. Do not kill yourself. Please. Call someone. Call me.
2) Do not respond with self-abuse. Do not take the patient’s chart home to punish yourself by obsessing on your mistake over and over again for years to remind yourself that you are not as smart as you think you are (like one doctor I know who did this). Do not allow a mistake to overshadow your years of excellent care.
3) Do not wait decades to share your trauma. One physician broke down in tears in front of me about a medical error she experienced 30 years ago. She then apologized for crying. Then she told me she had not been able to cry in 10 years!
After a decade helping doctors heal from suicidal thoughts, self-abuse, and isolation from recent and remote medical mistakes, I’ve discovered what actually works. Read more ›
Since my original keynote 2 years ago: 33 orthopaedic surgeon suicides: How to prevent #34, we’ve lost 22 more orthopaedic surgeon to suicide. On September 10, 2020, at the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society, I share why each of these 55 doctors died died and how we can prevent future suicides among doctors. Afterwards we had 3.5 hours of Q&A and continued conversation (confidential, not recorded). Need to talk? Contact Dr. Wible here.
View the Wall of Remembrance (above) at the end of the newly released award-winning documentary, Do No Harm: Exposing the Hippocratic Hoax, a film that exposes our doctor suicide crisis and honors nearly 100 doctors who have died by suicide. Join me today in remembering them. View full-feature film by Emmy-winning filmmaker now on Amazon Prime.
Greg Hamlin Miday, M.D., Internist
Kevin Thomas Dietl, D.O., Degree Awarded Posthumously
Kaitlyn Nicole Elkins, Medical Student
Sean Michael Petro, Medical Student
Emily Ariel Bamberger, M.D.,Ph.D. Candidate
Jacob “Dr. J” Neufeld, M.D., M.P.H, Pediatric Physiatrist
John Chuan Loh, Medical Student
Gabriel Goodwin, M.D., Anesthesiologist
Evan Astin, M.D., Internal Medicine Resident
Gregory Andrew Collins, M.D., Family Physician
Lara Barnett, M.D., Internal Medicine Resident
Charles Christopher Martin, M.D., Family Medicine Resident
Carrie Ann Largent, Medical Student
William Samuel Brown, M.D., Radiologist
Robert Karoly Chu, M.D., M.P.H., Aspiring Radiologist
Jeremy Egnatios, Medical Student
Steven G. Ortiz, M.D., Orthopaedic Surgeon
Alan R. Rowlan, M.D., Surgeon
Kim Marie Walsh, M.D., M.P.H., Family Physician
Ross Alan Gallo, M.D., Psychiatrist
Abdurrahman Unal, M.D., Radiation Oncologist
Alain Bolduc, M.D., Dermatologist
Alex Djuricich, M.D., Internist and Pediatrician
Amanda Liu, D.O., Radiology Resident
Andrew Bryant, M.B.B.S., Gastroenterologist and Hepatologist
Benjamin Shaffer, M.D., Orthopaedic Surgeon
Boyd Dan Batla, Medical Student
Bryan Whitemarsh, M.D., Family Physician
Captain Michael McCaddon, M.D., Obstetrics/Gynecology Resident
