Ep. 90 Coaching Physicians Through the Stress of Malpractice Litigation with Dr. Gita Pensa

In this episode of BackTable ENT, Dr. Julie Wei speaks with Dr. Gita Pensa, an emergency medicine physician, about her journey to becoming a physician coach. --- SHOW NOTES After enduring a 12 year malpractice lawsuit, Dr. Pensa explains why she chose to become a physician coach focused on helping physicians maintain their wellness through malpractice lawsuits. She started out by creating her own podcast to release 11 episodes about malpractice litigation basics. Once she realized her podcast was beneficial to many physicians, she started accepting speaking engagements and monetizing her skillset as a coach. To Dr. Pensa, physician coaching is not therapy for litigation. She doesn’t ask about details of the case that have happened, but she does help her clients reflect on the thoughts and feelings that impact their actions and reactions to their cases. Additionally, the doctors discuss Dr. Pensa’s client distribution in terms of sex and specialty. They also reflect on the relationships of malpractice attorneys with physician coaches. Although some attorneys may push back because of privacy concerns, some attorneys include Dr. Pensa on the team. She always tries to frame physician coaching as a wellness aspect of litigation period, not a substitution for legal advice. Finally Dr. Pensa ends the episode by talking about rising physician suicide rates and physician disillusionment. --- RESOURCES Dr. Gita Pensa’s Website https://doctorsandlitigation.com/ Doctors and Litigation: The L Word (11 podcast episodes) https://doctorsandlitigation.com/podcast-2 BackTable ENT Episode 42- Physicians and Litigation: The L Word https://www.backtable.com/shows/ent/podcasts/42/doctors-litigation-the-l-word The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It by Kelly McGonigal https://www.amazon.com/Upside-Stress-Why-Good-You/dp/1101982934