Physician Support Groups (Sundays) | Peer Support for Doctors →

Physician Mental Health ❤️ Physician Wellness ❤️Confidential Suicide Hotline

View Our 2025 Physician Retreats 🎉

Confidential support for doctors in crisis. Connection, healing & hope.

Are you a physician grappling with burnout, betrayal, grief, or even suicidal thoughts? Have you been caught in a board investigation, faced bullying, or found yourself feeling isolated in your struggles? You’re not alone. Our Physician Peer Support Groups offer safe, confidential space every Sunday to share your uncensored experiences with compassionate peers who truly understand what you’re going through. Whether you’re suffering from PHP entrapment, DEA audits, or the stress of building your own business, we provide support, strategies, and connection to help you live your dreams.

Our Physician Support Groups Every Sunday

🕚 Physician Peer Support (11 am PT)

Suffering from bullying, betrayal, exhaustion, medical mistakes, grief, guilt, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts? Facing a Physician Health Program (PHP) or board investigation? We can help. (90 min) | $97/mo 👉 Register here

🕐 Physician Survivors Dream Team (1 pm PT)

An intimate group for doctors who’ve survived prison time, DEA raids, FBI investigations, PHP entrapment, and the trauma that comes with it. We discuss the hidden and taboo reasons physicians die by suicide—and how to prevent it. (60 min) | $97/mo 👉 Register here

🕔 Business Mastermind (5 pm PT)

Master advanced business strategies for your independent clinic, coaching, or consulting business (no medical license required). Must be a Fast Track grad or own an independent practice. (60 min) | $97/mo 👉 Register here

❤️ Confidential & open to all healers. ❤️

Confidential-Physician-Peer-Support-with-Dr.-Pamela-Wible

🌿 Physician Peer Support FAQ – Common Questions Answered

Are groups truly confidential?

Yes! Nothing you say is ever recorded. We adhere to a strict code of confidentiality. Our written chat is shared only with members present during the session.

Can I be anonymous?

Yes! Many physicians facing sensitive challenges such as board investigations, PHP enrollment, or medical errors prefer to remain anonymous. Dr. Wible can arrange for you to keep your video off and name hidden. However, most members choose to share openly and even exchange contact info to check in on each other during the week.

Physician Felons: How to Stay Out of Prison →

Doctors behind bars — learn how to avoid common legal traps in this guide for physicians.

How to protect your medical license, your freedom, and your patients

A physician called me just hours before her sentencing for opioid diversion. She was grateful for my advice. I only wish she’d reached out sooner.

I’m writing this to help other good docs avoid prison time.

Here are 11 unforgettable cases involving my friends & family—with hard lessons learned.

Real Cases: How Good Doctors End Up in Prison

1. Lorraine – Nuclear Medicine Physician, Texas

My dear friend, Lorraine DeBlanche, M.D., was taking time off to grieve her beloved physician husband’s suicide when a colleague recommended a part-time telemedicine job. Her role seemed simple: confirm veterans’ requests for non-opioid pain cream and sign scripts. At $30 per patient, she earned $33,000 over one year before moving on.

Unbeknownst to her, the company was billing the U.S. military healthcare program $6,000 per tube. Years later, at midnight, FBI agents pounded on her front door. Barefoot, trembling in her nightgown, she was interrogated, her laptop seized, and ultimately she was indicted for fraud. Lorraine never even had a parking ticket; now she’s a felon.

Though she harmed no one (and some patients were complicit), Lorraine was found guilty of telemedicine fraud ordered to repay $33,000, fined $180,000, and spent over half a million in legal fees just to narrowly escape prison. Her career ended overnight. She’s now disabled from a stress-induced autoimmune disease and still startles when anyone knocks on her door.

2. Aaron – Anesthesiologist, West Coast

My friend had a spotless 20-year record running pain clinics for underserved complex patients. He used a blend of oral, topical, and innovative non-drug therapies—with great results.

Then came the shock: a business associate had involved him in a fraudulent pain cream kickback scheme. His license revoked, his high-risk patients left without care, Aaron was sentenced to more than a year in federal prison for insurance fraud. Now released, he hopes to get his license back and resume caring for patients.

3. Judith – Psychiatrist, Texas

In the 1980s, two men approached my mom, Judith Wible, M.D., at her Dallas office with a business proposal. She declined. They still used her Medicare number to fraudulently bill millions. Thankfully, the FBI chose not to prosecute her. Read more ›

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Physician Wellness: An Oxymoron? →

Physician-Wellness-An-Oxymoron

Can physicians—p erfectionist people-pleasers with high exposure to human suffering and “burnout”—ever achieve true wellness?

Why does physician wellness feel like a contradiction?

Here are five reasons why it often is:

1. Practicing medicine can damage DNA and accelerate aging

A study of physicians’ chromosomes found that just one year of practicing medicine accelerates aging by six years. That means a 26-year-old doctor is biologically 32 after one year on the job. Stress-induced cellular damage may explain why cancer and doctor suicide are leading causes of death among young doctors-in-training. Chronic physiologic distress also leads to high rates of physician depression and medical student suicide.

2. Physicians are exempt from labor law protections

Most Americans are protected by labor laws: 40-hour weeks and 8-hour shifts with scheduled breaks. Not doctors. Physicians-in-training legally work 80-hour weeks, 28-hour shifts—with no scheduled meals or sleep. Unsustainable workload leads to physician “burnout” and clinician fatigue.

In this video, a hospital doctor shares how she was on call in-house for seven days straight—168 hours without going home. Read more ›

Tags: confidential mental health care, doctor burnout, doctor mental health, doctor retreats, doctor work-life balance, healthcare labor laws, medical burnout, medical culture, patient safety, physician burnout, physician mental health, physician peer support, physician suicide prevention, physician trauma, physician wellness, physician workaholism, stress-induced aging, telomere damage

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Not “burnout,” not moral injury—human rights violations →

(Published 3/18/19, updated 6/20/25)

What Is Physician “Burnout”—and Why It Matters

Physician “burnout” is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by prolonged stress in the medical workplace. It’s a growing crisis affecting over half of all doctors in the U.S., and it has been linked to rising rates of physician depression, doctor suicide, and medical errors. Despite increasing attention to physician wellness, the rates of burnout continue to rise—especially among frontline clinicians, medical students, and residents.

Characterized by cynicism, exhaustion, and reduced job satisfaction, physician burnout can lead to devastating personal and professional consequences, including strained relationships, substance abuse, early retirement, and even suicide. Many doctors suffer in silence, reluctant to seek help due to stigma and fear of professional repercussions.

This post goes beyond the surface-level burnout conversation and explores a deeper truth: what if the problem isn’t burnout—or even moral injury—but human rights violations inside the medical system itself?

Burnout is a slang word for end-stage drug addiction first used on the streets of inner city America in the early 1970s. During that time, psychologist Herbert Freudenberger volunteered at a New York City free clinic treating addiction. He overheard the term and used it to describe himself and clinic staff in a 1974 article on staff burnout detailing long-term physical and psychological job stress.

He then authored a book on burnout in overachievers and another on burnout in women further popularizing the slang word which seeped into common lexicon. Burnout was no longer limited to Americans overdosing in back alleys. Now housewives and high achievers and anyone stressed at work suffered from burnout too. Read more ›

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Keynote: Finding your bliss—beating physician “burnout” →

Wildest keynote! Singing and dancing across stage with 4000 doctors in Las Vegas. (Published 2/5/19, updated 6/19/25) Rowdiest audience ever (at a medical conference at least). Read transcript and/or download & listen to MP3 below:

Physician burnout—symptom of a broken system

“Burnout” has become one of the most talked-about issues in healthcare—but behind the buzzword lies a deeper crisis. Physician burnout describes a dangerous mix of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a loss of meaning in work. It’s now so common that more than half of all doctors report symptoms, with medical students, residents, and even senior clinicians feeling pushed to the brink.

But is it really burnout—or something more serious? In this bold, no-holds-barred keynote, Dr. Pamela Wible dismantles the myth of burnout, exposing how this label hides systemic abuse, toxic work conditions, and human rights violat ions in medicine. Drawing from her experience running a physician suicide helpline, she speaks candidly about the emotional toll of assembly-line medicine, the link between overwork and doctor suicide, and the revolutionary joy of reclaiming your career by launching your own ideal clinic.

If you’ve ever felt trapped, disillusioned, or burned out in your medical career—this talk may be the most important hour you’ve spent in years.

. . . And now what we have all been waiting for, our keynote speaker on today’s theme of mental health. I give you Dr. Pamela Wible. Born into a family of physicians who warned her not to pursue medicine. Dr. Pamela Wible soon discovered why. In order to heal her patients she first had to heal her ailing profession. Fed up with assembly-line medicine Dr. Wible held town hall meetings and she invited citizens in her community to design their own ideal clinic. Open since 2005 her community clinic has inspired Americans to create ideal hospitals and clinics nationwide. Her innovative model is now taught in medical schools and hundreds of ideal community clinics have opened all across America even into Canada and New Zealand. An inspiring leader and educator of the next generation of physicians, Doctor Wible has been named one of the 2015 Women Leaders in Medicine and the “Physicians Guardian Angel.” Thank you for joining us Dr. Wible.

To be real. It’s got to be real. All right. Wow. How refreshing is it to be in a room with 4000 independent innovative thinkers who are disrupting the medical system. Let’s hear it for you guys. And this is a medical system that needs to be disrupted because our medical system (as you know) is endangering the lives of patients right now—and physicians. Think about it. How weird is it that with the highest suicide rate of any profession how can physicians actually lead a longevity movement. Does that make any sense when we’re losing so many of our brothers and sisters to medicine? Read more ›

Tags: anxioux physician, can NP start a clinic, coaching physicians, how to start a clinic, leaving medicine, nurse practitioner start a clinic, physician anxiety, physician coaching, physician PTSD, physician trauma, quitting residency

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Creating a Culture of Wellness (Keynote) →

Note: Thomas Fishler, MD, is correct spelling of his name.

Kick-off keynote delivered on February 7, 2020 at AO North America, an international organization serving veterinarians, craniomaxillofacial, hand, spine, and trauma surgeons. Updated June 15, 2025.

Why Doctors Feel Broken—And How We Begin to Heal

Can we as physicians—perfectionist people-pleasers with high exposure to human suffering—ever truly be well?

Let’s be honest: despite all the wellness apps, lectures, and wellness committees, physician wellness still feels out of reach. In this keynote (with full transcript and slides), I explore why so many doctors feel like they’re supposed to be well—but secretly feel terrible. You’re not broken. The system is.

Creating a Culture of Wellness in Medicine

Physician burnout, depression, and even suicide have become public health crises—and doctors are often the last to ask for help. In Creating a Culture of Wellness, I share frontline stories, insights from doctors who’ve faced suicidal thoughts, medical students overwhelmed by stress, and physicians navigating their way back from the edge. Whether you’re struggling with imposter syndrome, looking for a physician support group, or exploring non-clinical careers for physicians, this keynote offers hope—and real, actionable solutions. For those considering quitting residency, launching a private practice, or attending a physician retreat, you’ll find inspiration here. From coaching for doctors to rebuilding community through peer-led wellness initiatives, let’s reimagine what true physician mental health can look like.

🙋 Quick Q&A

1. Why are doctors so burned out today? Long hours, litigation stress, and isolation have left many physicians battling depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts. In fact, doctor burnout is now one of the leading drivers of physician suicide and early retirement.

2. What about medical students—how do they cope with the stress? Many students suffer in silence with medical student depression, anxiety, or even suicidal thoughts. My keynote includes guidance for those struggling and outlines how to survive medical school without losing your soul.

3. Where can doctors find confidential help? I share national resources like physician suicide helplines and anonymous physician support groups, along with personal strategies to reduce stigma and create a safe culture of healing within your practice. For more free resources, view: Physician Wellness: An Oxymoron?

Introduction: It gives me great honor and privilege to introduce our first keynote speaker for the day, Dr. Pamela Wible. Dr. Wible is a family physician born into a family of physicians. Her parents warned her not to pursue medicine, but she followed her heart only to discover to heal her patients, she had to first heal her profession. So she held town hall meetings and invited her community to design their own ideal clinic. Open since 2005, Dr. Wible’s community clinic has sparked a movement in which patients and physicians are designing ideal clinics nationwide. Read more ›

Tags: AO North America, burnout, chief wellness officer, craniomaxillofacial physician suicide, hand surgeon suicide, hospital wellness programs, MD, military medicine, moral injury, Orthopaedic surgeon suicide, Orthopedic surgeon suicide, spine surgeon suicide, Steven Ortiz MD, suicidal surgery reesident, Thomas Fishler, trauma surgeon suicide, Vet Confessional Project, veterinarian suicide, Vicarious trauma in physicians

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Physician Mental Health ❤️ Physician Wellness ❤️Confidential Suicide Hotline

Our Physician Support Groups Every Sunday

🕚 Physician Peer Support (11 am PT)

🕐 Physician Survivors Dream Team (1 pm PT)

🕔 Business Mastermind (5 pm PT)

🌿 Physician Peer Support FAQ – Common Questions Answered

Are groups truly confidential?

Can I be anonymous?

How to protect your medical license, your freedom, and your patients

Real Cases: How Good Doctors End Up in Prison

1. Lorraine – Nuclear Medicine Physician, Texas

2. Aaron – Anesthesiologist, West Coast

3. Judith – Psychiatrist, Texas

What Is Physician “Burnout”—and Why It Matters

Physician burnout—symptom of a broken system

Why Doctors Feel Broken—And How We Begin to Heal

🙋 Quick Q&A

DOCTOR SUICIDES

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