#414 - CONTRIBUTOR SERIES: Breaking the Silence: Dr. Saba Fatima on the Emotional Toll of Medical Malpractice

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Dr. Amna Shabir interviews Dr. Saba Fatima on the emotional struggles that come with medical malpractice cases. Drawing from her own experience, Dr. Fatima opens up about the feelings of isolation, shame, and anxiety that many doctors face especially since they’re often told not to talk about their cases. She explains why it’s so important to have open conversations to break the stigma and support each other.

Dr. Fatima also talks about the bigger problems in healthcare that push doctors toward defensive medicine and shares why building support systems is key. She encourages self-forgiveness and reminds doctors that mistakes can happen in a high-pressure field.

They also discussed ways to create safer work environments, foster a culture of fairness, and deal with the emotional impact of systemic failures. Dr. Fatima’s story and advice are all about building a supportive community where doctors can feel heard and focus on both their well-being and better patient care.

Bio

Saba Fatima, MD

Saba Fatima, MD is a Pediatric Hospitalist and Assistant Professor at KU School of Medicine Wichita. She is a passionate advocate for physician wellness and addressing secondary trauma in healthcare workers. She is Certified in Narrative Medicine from Columbia University. She hosts the Muted in Medicine podcast, where she sheds light on often-silenced topics in healthcare. As a writer, she contributes to various academic journals and blogs, spreading awareness on physician wellness issues that are often left unspoken

 

Socials: 

 

https://www.instagram.com/mutedinmedicine?igsh=YWJ5YW1ndHpoamY0

https://www.linkedin.com/in/saba-fatima-md-78894a105?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app

 

https://youtube.com/@mutedinmedicine?si=Kqk-PQFAYcT2Ydq4

 

Amna Shabbir, MD 

Dr. Amna Shabbir is a physician and podcast host focused on physician recruitment and early career development. She is dedicated to helping healthcare professionals navigate their careers and find fulfillment in their work. Dr. Shabbir's passion for empathy and mental health drives her to explore innovative approaches to improve physician well-being and patient care.

Links:

• LinkedIn: Dr. Amna Shabbir

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Nearly one in three physicians in the U. S. have been sued for medical malpractice at some point in their career, and yet we rarely talk about it, especially in the context of our early career years. Listen in to today's important conversations as we dive deep into this topic. Hello, and welcome to another episode of the physician's guide to doctoring.

(00:01):
Welcome to the show, Dr. Fatma. How are you doing today? I'm doing great. Thank you. Thank you so much for inviting me. I'm really excited to be here. Likewise. So I first was drawn to a LinkedIn post that you had made about malpractice litigation, a paper you had written that had been published in, I believe, the hospital pediatrics journal, and that really Struck a chord with me as I help younger physicians that are in their early career years and the fear of Litigation is very real and as I end up helping older physicians and mid career physicians I feel like that also it doesn't go away And it's very relevant So I would love to know what drew you to that in specific in writing that paper Yeah, without going into much of the nitty gritty details, I would say it was inspired by personal events.
Obviously, I had my own experience through litigation, which is why I wrote that article, but more so frustration with the system because I feel like a lot of times when This happens to any physician or even nurses or pharmacists. It happens to a lot of people. This is the first time that is happening to them because it's very common, but it doesn't happen like every day or simultaneously or every month.
That's huge. I love what you just said that we talk about the choose wisely campaign and practicing. Good medicine, which is appropriate, but really tapping into we forget that we are beings that are complete. We have our, all our centers are working at the same time. I love the concept of interconnectedness.
But when I started, so I've been 6 years into practice now and I felt like after residency and I felt every single thing. That I went through like shame, grief. I've gone through it. I had an unexpected loss of a patient when I was postpartum, like six months or so. And I was depressed for six to seven months after that and I didn't know what to do.
So Just to create more voices around these topics. That's wonderful because you're right. It's psychologically unsafe to share. And you already are suffering massively from imposter ism at that time, right? You are supposed to have it all together. You can't just walk around telling people, right?
So I would love to hear if you wanted to share some numbers surrounding I read your article, you had numbers from 2022, like, how much at risk are we like, what are the numbers saying in terms of litigation? Yeah, so it's pretty common, more common than we think. So one in three physicians face a lawsuit across their career, which is if three of us are having a dinner, one of us might have been sued or we'll get sued in the future.
Because we all are in our own circles. So for example, if somebody is in academics, what would you tell them if they're just about the numbers or if they're fearful of getting sued? Is that what you're asking? Yes. So I would say like talking a bit towards both parts of it, the fear off litigation or if they are going through that what to do at that time. Let's start there. So it can happen because of various systemic factors. But if you are practicing good medicine, and even if you end up getting sued, you can always defend yourself. So that's, I think, extremely important. The third thing it always comes down to is like good communication with the people around you.
I'm really sorry that it happened to you, but don't take it personally. I think a lot of times we lose our sense of identity. It feels very personal. If you're getting sued, I did something wrong, there's so much shame and guilt around that time, but it's just the risk of working in this business.
But the most important thing I want to focus on in what you said is not internalizing absolutely everything to be as a personal failure of self. So breaking this down a little bit more and recognizing that you are A human, because when you become a doctor, the flawlessness has to be there.
And then, whatever happened. I really appreciate you mentioning that, and I also want to draw attention, you mentioned communication. However. Dr. Feithman, one thing I get asked a lot is, or worry charting. A lot of my clients will not close their charts because they keep reading and rereading the decision making did I miss something?
I think you just have to trust yourself and your education. And if it happens, like I said, it's not, the entire onus is not up to you. Just remember that I thought about my daughter, she's 4 years old, right?
And of course we're all on the same team in that sense. We all want the best for our patients , like it been on the other side of the exam table. It's not fun when you are in the seat of the patient, but ever since time has gone by I have just developed increased compassion Whenever I've had health care challenges because I see my colleagues who care for me or my family members And I know this person probably hasn't slept this person probably is covering for Everything that we can think of but you're right and Justice is a very, it's an important and it's a heavy term, but that shame is so real.
It has almost happened to everybody. If you haven't been sued, like you have made a mistake, you have had a bad patient outcome or a bad experience, something or you have felt shame. So just talking about it more I try to and then normalizing that errors do happen. I see the expression on some of my trainees faces.
You're modeling that behavior of not being muted in medicine, yourself, like quite literally, pun intended there, but recognizing that. We definitely hold our oath sacred, all the values that we carry and embody, the integrity, all of that is there, but also recognizing we can do anything we want to, but we cannot Stop being human. And yet we are constantly expected to not be human at every level. And I think that is what is much needed with these conversations as well. Returning that and modeling that and absolutely when older physicians, when more seasoned physicians that have. Gone like you look, I'm a geriatrician.
And there's like this line between those two you don't want to be in that space either. Your thoughts on that? Like that, are you talking about that blame game, if the trust started blaming each other? Yeah, that's not how hospitals should work. That's not how academic systems should work.
What are your take home points to anyone who's listening, either fearful or going through this or has had gone through this? The 1st thing that I also say, is, if you've gone through it, or you've made a mistake, or you're exposed to litigation just forgive yourself, because I feel like a lot of times we start blaming ourselves and we go into that spiral and we can't get past it because we want to change the outcome.
Thank you. Yeah, it was a pleasure.