Pamela Wible, MD

Pamela Wible pioneered the community-designed ideal medical clinic and blogs at Ideal Medical Care. She is the author of Physician Suicide Letters: Answered and Pet Goats and Pap Smears. Watch her TEDx talk, How to Get Naked with Your Doctor. She hosts the physician retreat, Live Your Dream, to help her colleagues heal from grief and reclaim their lives and careers.

August 7, 2014Aug 7, 2014

I love caring for patients -- young and old. And though I may not accept your insurance, I will always accept you. I’m still happy to care for Medicare patients even though I opted out of Medicare in 2006. Why…

I love caring for patients — young and old. And though I may not accept your insurance, I will always accept you. I’m still happy to care for Medicare patients even though I opted out of Medicare in 2006. Why don’t I accept Medicare? Let me fill you in.

I do not accept Medicare because:

Medicare treats physicians as criminals — guilty …

Physicians

I may not accept your insurance, but I will always accept you

Pamela Wible, MD

July 29, 2014Jul 29, 2014

Just for the record: I am happy to see you -- irrespective of your insurance. I accept most insurance plans. And if I don’t accept your insurance, I have a very good reason. I will not sign a contract with…

Just for the record: I am happy to see you — irrespective of your insurance.

I accept most insurance plans. And if I don’t accept your insurance, I have a very good reason.

I will not sign a contract with a health insurer that:

Abuses and bullies me and/or my patients.

Denies all my first claims.

Reimburses me so little that I may go out of …

Physicians

Why you should love your doctor

Pamela Wible, MD

July 18, 2014Jul 18, 2014

Doctors spend their 20s and 30s studying while most of their friends are at parties and enjoying their youth. Doctors may amass up to $500,000 in debt for the honor of one day caring for you and your family. Doctors…

Doctors spend their 20s and 30s studying while most of their friends are at parties and enjoying their youth.

Doctors may amass up to $500,000 in debt for the honor of one day caring for you and your family.

Doctors delay childbearing and starting their own families so they can care for your family.

Doctors miss their own kids’ ballet recitals and baseball games …

Read more…

Why you should love your doctor

Physicians

The one question you must ask your doctor

Pamela Wible, MD

June 23, 2014Jun 23, 2014

Your doctor has more control over your life than anyone -- other than you. Your doctor may be the first face you see as you’re born and the last one you see as you die. Doctors look deep inside you,…

Your doctor has more control over your life than anyone — other than you.

Your doctor may be the first face you see as you’re born and the last one you see as you die. Doctors look deep inside you, in places nobody has been before. Doctors prescribe drugs that can kill you or save your life.

But how do you know if …

Physicians

House call on a hundred-foot cliff

Pamela Wible, MD

June 10, 2014Jun 10, 2014

Johnny’s disabled. He can’t get to my office anymore. So I drive 100 miles up the Oregon coast to check in on him. I get lost, but finally discover his little white house on the edge of a cliff overlooking…

GVE1074-1024x678

GVE1080-1024x678

“Last …

Read more…

House call on a hundred-foot cliff

Education

Is medical school just for rich kids?

Pamela Wible, MD

May 26, 2014May 26, 2014

Dear Dr. Wible, This will be my last email to you because I am giving up on my dream of being a doctor. I’ve contacted so many colleges and medical schools hoping to find one that would help me become…

This letter was received and edited for clarity by Pamela Wible, MD.

Dear Dr. Wible,

This will be my last email to you because I am giving up on my dream of being a doctor.

I’ve contacted so many colleges and medical schools hoping to find one that would help me become a doctor for my tribe. Today, I finally got a response from the …

Read more…

Is medical school just for rich kids?

Physicians

Physician suicide etiquette: What to do when your doctor dies suddenly

Pamela Wible, MD

May 19, 2014May 19, 2014

An obstetrician is found dead in his bathtub. Gunshot wound to the head. An anesthesiologist dies of an overdose in a hospital closet. A family doctor is hit by a train. He’s decapitated. An internist at a medical conference jumps…

What are patients to do?

When they call for appointments, patients are …

Physicians

Showcase happy doctors and find out what they’re doing right

Pamela Wible, MD

May 9, 2014May 9, 2014

Recently, a friend posted a story on my Facebook page: “How Being a Doctor Became the Most Miserable Profession,” Oh no. “Another article on miserable doctors,” I thought. I’m an expert on miserable doctors. I used to be one. Why…

The next day another friend posted it. Then another. Okay, now it was assigned reading. I steeled …

Physicians

Why I love house calls

Pamela Wible, MD

April 30, 2014Apr 30, 2014

I’ve always been a people watcher. Now I get paid to spy on folks. I have to ask detailed, personal questions. Sometimes I even snoop around patients’ homes. In the 1930s nearly half of all patient visits were house calls.…

I’ve always been a people watcher. Now I get paid to spy on folks. I have to ask detailed, personal questions. Sometimes I even snoop around patients’ homes.

In the 1930s nearly half of all patient visits were house calls. Now most patients are rushed through ten-minute office visits. But if I need to know what’s going on with a patient, I …

Read more…

Why I love house calls

Physicians

Physician suicide letters

Pamela Wible, MD

April 21, 2014Apr 21, 2014

I asked why physicians were dying by suicide. Here’s what they told me: “I definitely graduated from med school with PTSD. It has changed me forever. My mom’s friend that I have known since I was born saw me for…

I asked why physicians were dying by suicide. Here’s what they told me:

“I definitely graduated from med school with PTSD. It has changed me forever. My mom’s friend that I have known since I was born saw me for the first time since I went to med school and she [told my mom], “She has changed so much. Was it worth …

Read more…

Physician suicide letters

Physicians

Why doctors treat patients as drug addicts

Pamela Wible, MD

April 14, 2014Apr 14, 2014

Fact: Doctors want to help people. Fact: Some people take advantage of doctors. A doctor in Oregon shares this case: I had an old man with cancer. He kept complaining of pain as I was increasing his opiate pain medication,…

Fact: Doctors want to help people.

Fact: Some people take advantage of doctors.

A doctor in Oregon shares this case:

I had an old man with cancer. He kept complaining of pain as I was increasing his opiate pain medication, Oxycontin. I was at, I forget, about 40mg four times a day or some fairly substantial dose. I ran a urine drug test. Negative

…

Meds

The shocking ingredient in natural medicine

Pamela Wible, MD

April 3, 2014Apr 3, 2014

So you think your medicine is natural. Ever wonder what’s inside? A product can be labeled “natural” if the main ingredient is from an animal, plant, or mineral. Arsenic, horse urine, and cow brain are natural. But are they natural…

Insulin was discovered in 1922. Until the 1980s, all insulin was …

Meds

The surprising way patients get drugs

Pamela Wible, MD

March 27, 2014Mar 27, 2014

Tom is diabetic, asthmatic, and broke. He’s back for a checkup. “I take my metformin every morning with my grits,” he says, “but I don’t need no refill. I just got me some metformin XR.” “How did you get extended…

Tom is diabetic, asthmatic, and broke. He’s back for a checkup.

“I take my metformin every morning with my grits,” he says, “but I don’t need no refill. I just got me some metformin XR.”

“How did you get extended release? They’re super expensive.”

“Well, my neighbor runs a tattoo shop. We live behind her store. Her doc switched her up to insulin, so …

Read more…

The surprising way patients get drugs

Physicians

People die without love: Why I prescribe the love drug

Pamela Wible, MD

March 17, 2014Mar 17, 2014

As a doctor, it’s my job to figure out what patients really need. Some need antibiotics. Some need pain pills. But everyone needs love. During medical school I cared for burned children. One of my patients was a 3-year-old with…

As a doctor, it’s my job to figure out what patients really need. Some need antibiotics. Some need pain pills. But everyone needs love.

During medical school I cared for burned children. One of my patients was a 3-year-old with severe burns over most of his body. His roommate, an older boy, had just burned one arm. Yet the older child withered in the …

Physicians

How to save hundreds of dollars on your medical bills

Pamela Wible, MD

February 27, 2014Feb 27, 2014

Rob got a cat bite. Then a swollen hand. He goes to the ER, gets antibiotics, then develops itching. So he calls me for advice. A few days later, I get this email: “The itching from the antibiotics went away…

Rob got a cat bite. Then a swollen hand. He goes to the ER, gets antibiotics, then develops itching. So he calls me for advice.

A few days later, I get this email: “The itching from the antibiotics went away as you said it would. But what is NOT poised to go away is the $624 bill from the ER for talking …

Conditions

Why doctors commit suicide

Pamela Wible, MD

February 18, 2014Feb 18, 2014

I’ve been a doctor for twenty years. I’ve not lost a single patient to suicide. I’ve lost only colleagues, friends, lovers -- all male physicians -- to suicide. Why? Here’s what I know: A physician’s greatest joy is the patient…

I’ve been a doctor for twenty years. I’ve not lost a single patient to suicide.

I’ve lost only colleagues, friends, lovers — all male physicians — to suicide.

Why?

Here’s what I know:

A physician’s greatest joy is the patient relationship.

Assembly-line medicine undermines the patient-physician relationship.

Most doctors are burned out, overworked, or exhausted.

Many doctors spend little time with their families.

Workaholics are admired in medicine.

Medicine values …

Read more…

Why doctors commit suicide

Physicians

Are you a victim of patient profiling?

Pamela Wible, MD

February 3, 2014Feb 3, 2014

Ever felt misjudged by a doctor? Or treated unfairly by a clinic or hospital? You may be a victim of patient profiling. Patient profiling is the practice of regarding particular patients as more likely to have certain behaviors or illnesses…

Ever felt misjudged by a doctor? Or treated unfairly by a clinic or hospital? You may be a victim of patient profiling.

Patient profiling is the practice of regarding particular patients as more likely to have certain behaviors or illnesses based on their appearance, race, gender, financial status, or other observable characteristics. Profiling disproportionately impacts patients with chronic pain, mental illness, the …

Read more…

Are you a victim of patient profiling?

Physicians

Be emotionally intimate with your patients

Pamela Wible, MD

January 27, 2014Jan 27, 2014

A new patient calls for an appointment. I ask, “What would you like to come in for?” “Depression. Two weeks ago my doctor put me on antidepressants.” “Why don’t you see your current doctor?” I ask. “I feel weird discussing…

A new patient calls for an appointment. I ask, “What would you like to come in for?”

“Depression. Two weeks ago my doctor put me on antidepressants.”

“Why don’t you see your current doctor?” I ask.

“I feel weird discussing my emotions with someone who doesn’t have any.”

When doctors are fully present, vulnerable — even emotional, patients are more likely to be honest, transparent, …

Conditions

The unidentified cause of one man’s hypertension: Racism

Pamela Wible, MD

January 20, 2014Jan 20, 2014

Meet Damien, my Facebook friend, photographer, and IT guy. This morning, he messages me: “I would like to make an appointment.” I reply: “For?” “High blood pressure.” I offer to see him, but he never comes in. Weeks later, he…

Meet Damien, my Facebook friend, photographer, and IT guy.

This morning, he messages me: “I would like to make an appointment.”

I reply: “For?”

“High blood pressure.”

I offer to see him, but he never comes in. Weeks later, he writes, “I got busy Pam. How are you? High blood pressure pills keep making me sick. I am doing the best I can. On bad …

Physicians

I can’t always cure, but I can always care

Pamela Wible, MD

December 4, 2013Dec 4, 2013

I started kissing patients in med school. And I haven’t stopped. During my third year pediatric rotation, I used to stay up late at night in the hospital, holding sick and dying children. I’d lift them from their cribs, kiss…

I started kissing patients in med school. And I haven’t stopped.

During my third year pediatric rotation, I used to stay up late at night in the hospital, holding sick and dying children. I’d lift them from their cribs, kiss them, and sing to them, rocking them back and forth until they fell asleep. One day the head of the department pulled …