Ep 61. Gita Pensa, MD -- Malpractice litigation and its impact on the physician

Welcome to the Doctor Money Matters Podcast. In this episode we talk with Gita Pensa MD, an emergency medicine physician and fellow podcaster who created an incredible podcast which is a must listen about lawsuits in medicine and the personal impact it had on her. Its a “Serial” type podcast which is extremely well done. I highly recommend it. Note this episode was recorded just prior to the Covid shutdowns in March 2020. Please support our sponsor Pearson Ravitz if you are in the market for disability insurance and especially if you are early in your career for the best rates. In this episode we discuss why Dr. Pensa started the podcast. We talk about the impact the lawsuit had on her and she talks about how she felt initially and how even years later it has an impact, not just how long these suits can drag out, and having to relive it over and over again. We also talk about what physicians don’t know about if they are named in a malpractice lawsuit. We are never taught about how to feel if this happens. Residency programs and CME talks may discuss some of the legal issues, but they rarely address the personal impact on physicians. The simple threat of a lawsuit makes most physicians uncomfortable and for those who have gone through depositions/trials it can scar you for a long time. We discuss how it can impact your non professional life in addition to your worklife.  We also discuss the role of physician experts in the malpractice world. She calls some of them “Testeliars” on her podcast. These are doctors who make a career out of malpractice testimony. Dr. Pensa suggests talks about her solutions to make it fair for all physicians. Finally we talk about what her future plans are and what creating this podcast has done for her, how its allowed her to reach other physicians who have then connected with her about their experiences and how that has helped her find new purpose. This is a jam packed episode. Gita’s podcast is available on all the major outlets. Doctors and Litigation: The L Word  Please visit our website at www.doctormoneymatters.com You can follow our show on: Twitter @drmoneymatters Facebook: Doctor Money Matters Instagram @doctormoneymatters I encourage healthcare professionals to join our private facebook group, Doctor Money Matters. If you enjoyed this episode please leave us positive review on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Any constructive criticism or topics for future shows can be directed to comments@doctormoneymatters.com Please remember what you heard on this show is for your entertainment and education only. Please speak with the appropriate experts prior to making decisions regarding your own financial situation. Thanks for listening and please leave us positive reviews and continue to share this podcast with your colleagues.  

Om Podcasten

Welcome to the Doctor Money Matters podcast. I am your host Dr. Tarang Patel, a practicing diagnostic radiologist in Phoenix, AZ. I started this podcast as a way to share knowledge about financial matters as they relate to health care professionals. We spent many years learning about the science and art of providing patient care but most of us have relatively little knowledge about reaching financial well being. I know that I had no formal training in setting up investment accounts, negotiating contracts, buying insurance, buying real estate, etc. I just learned by reading and also by making many mistakes. Health care professionals are trusted to take put their patients needs first and we in turn assume everyone in other fields work the same way. Unfortunately this is not always true. By talking about these topics, I hope we can reduce the many financial mistakes that prior generations of doctors have made. Those physicians were able to overcome these mistakes because of shorter training periods, less debt, and they were more likely to be in private practice. Today we no longer have those luxuries and many of us have significant debt burdens. The good news is that we also have access to information that the prior generation never had. A little background about me. As I said before I am a practicing radiologist in Phoenix, AZ. I went to undergrad at Indiana U. (Go Hoosiers), medical school at the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (Now AT Still Univ) in Missouri, moved east and did my radiology residency at New York Hospital-Weill Cornell Medical Center in Manhattan. I then moved west to serve my Air Force commitment at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, NV. I then did a fellowship in Body/Musculoskeletal Imaging at Mayo Clinic Arizona. Since I finished training I have been in a hospital employed group for the last 6 years. I have always enjoyed learning about finance and have read (listened to) many of the financial books. I also spent time reading on the bogleheads.org forum which I found to be a valuable source of information. Finally I just observed that many of my colleagues and I had the same questions about relatively basic financial matters but it was difficult to find clear answers. Hopefully you find these podcasts useful. I encourage you to subscribe to them, that way you will be updated when any episodes are released automatically. Also please let your friends and colleagues know about this podcast. Please give us good feedback on iTunes, Google Play and stitcher and if you have suggestions on topics or how to improve the podcast please send your emails to comments@doctormoneymatters.com Social media links: twitter @drmoneymatters Facebook www.facebook.com/doctormoneymatters/ Please understand that this show is for entertainment and education only and you should do your own research and speak with the appropriate experts prior to making any changes in regards to material you may have heard on the show. The opinions from the guests on this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of the host or of Doctor Money Matters, LLC.