Feb 5, 2019
Today’s podcast on Redefining Medicine features Pamela Wible, MD. Known in the medical community as “Physicians’ Guardian Angel,” Dr. Wible has become America’s leading voice for ideal medical care through her continuous work with physician suicide, and the pervasive issue of mental health in the medical community. With parents who were both doctors, Dr. Wible experienced the ‘real dark underbelly’ of medicine as a child—which was only deepened through her tenure in medical school, and her own experience in being suicidal. After being forced to be a “factory worker” and practice “assembly-line medicine” in short increments—coupled with what she describes as rampant “human-rights violations” in medical training—Dr. Wible felt deeply abused, dehumanized, and dejected. Through leading town hall meetings, during which she asked communities to design their ideal medical clinics, Dr. Wible collected written testimony and subsequently designed a clinic based upon her findings. Describing the clinic as relationship-driven rather than production-driven, Dr. Wible models her practice today around what brings her joy, and continues to disseminate education surrounding the public health epidemic that goes largely unreported: physician suicide.