Mistakes to Avoid: An Expert Medical Expert's Take

12/29/24 • 37 min

In this episode we have a conversation with surgeon and longtime expert witness Dr. Stephen Cohen, who wants to tell you about common mistakes he's seen physician defendants make in their cases. Dr. Pensa and Dr. Cohen discuss real cases Dr. Cohen participated in as an expert, and their legal outcomes. We also emphasize the unfortunate reality that we (and licensing boards, and society)should not use adverse jury verdicts and legal outcomes alone to infer whether someone's medical care was reasonable.

Learn more about Dr. Pensa at doctorsandlitigation.com.

Learn more about Dr. Pensa at doctorsandlitigation.com.

Previous Episode

Thought Work for the Health of It

Dr. Pensa explains why attention to your thinking, even when you feel your mental health is "good", can lead to personal growth and a more satisfying life. We all know the markers of excellent physical health, but what are the components of excellent mental health? Is it simply being happy all the time? Is that even possible? (Spoiler: it's not.)

Using functional fitness for the body as an analogy, we look at the importance of not waiting until your health is poor before making efforts to improve or optimize. Strength, endurance, flexibility, agility, speed, and balance are facets of both functional physical health as well as your mental health and thought processes that can be developed and strengthened over time with intentional practice. A person adept in all of these spheres can become more adaptable to life's inevitable challenges, and just like in physical health, learning to lean into resistance and some discomfort in lower-stakes situations will increase your capacity over time. The concepts of thought work and emotional agility are introduced.

Mentioned resource: Susan David's Emotional Agility

Next Episode

LEAP: Litigation Education and Performance

The first LEAP (Litigation Education and Performance) Course for Clinicians will run from March 17th through June 2nd, 2025.

This is a hybrid online course, 1 h/week self paced videos and 6 live virtual review and Q&A sessions with Dr. Pensa, one of which will be an Ask-a-Lawyer segment with a seasoned defense attorney. These live sessions are spaced every other week, at varying times, and will be recorded if you can't make a session.

This is for anyone -- doctors, nurses, APPs, dentists -- any healthcare provider who wants to understand the litigation process, and how they can navigate it with skill and resilience.

We'll cover from getting named all the way to jury verdict, and all the possible stops in between -- along with many of the coaching techniques for performance Dr. Pensa uses with her 1:1 clients.

*The course is eligible for CME and CNE credits, so use those professional funds for something really useful!*

Check out the course here at https://www.doctorsandlitigation.com/LEAP/signup

Please share with anyone you feel could benefit from learning about what we were never taught in training about medical litigation!