Doctors in Distress: Physician Defendant Support and Education
Speaker
Gita Pensa, M.D., FAAEM, is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Brown University, and is widely recognized as one of the nation's leading experts on malpractice litigation stress and physician litigation support. Her open access podcast curriculum, "Doctors and Litigation: The L Word" is an introduction to the practical and psychological preparation necessary for malpractice litigation defendants, and is now used as a teaching tool in medicine, law, and the malpractice insurance industry. She works as a consultant to medical malpractice insurance companies, hospital systems and defense attorneys, and also is a well-being and performance coach for defendants in litigation. Dr. Pensa was the editor of the Academic Emergency Medicine journal’s monthly research podcast through 2024 and remains a managing editor at Emergency Medicine Reviews and Perspectives (EM:RAP). She was named the EMRA(Emergency Medicine Residents' Association) National Faculty Mentor of the Year in 2018, and in 2019 she was awarded a Special Service Recognition Award from Rhode Island ACEP for “courageous public advocacy of Rhode Island Emergency Medicine Colleagues.” She has been featured in forums such as Time magazine, SXSW, NPR, and the new PBS documentary "A World of Hurt: How Medical Malpractice Fails Everyone.” You can find more about her at https://doctorsandlitigation.com/.
Description
Many doctors are completely unprepared for malpractice litigation, even though the majority will experience it during their careers. The experience is shrouded in secrecy and shame, and the individual physician often suffers in isolation, sometimes with disastrous consequences. Gita Pensa, M.D., will discuss the complexities of litigation stress in doctors, its impact beyond legal outcomes, and how education and more effective support strategies for defendants can mitigate its impact.
Learning Objectives
At the end of the webinar, the participant should be able to:
- Identify the origins of litigation stress in the physician defendant
- Recognize the ways in which litigation stress and fear of litigation drive career abandonment, burnout and suicide in physicians
- Explore the role of effective peer support, coaching, and education in mitigating litigation stress
- Evaluate areas where implicit bias can influence physicians in litigation and patient safety.
Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider number 12205 for 1 contact hours.
This meeting has been approved for 1 contact hour of Continuing Education Credit toward fulfillment of the requirements of ASHRM designations of FASHRM (Fellow) and DFASHRM (Distinguished Fellow) and towards CPHRM renewal.