Pamela Wible, MD

Pamela Wible, MD, is a family physician in solo practice in Oregon. She accepts most insurance plans. But, to protect herself, her practice, and her patients, she is very clear on what type of contract she will not sign.

Here, 12 reasons why physicians could use a little TLC. Tell us how many ring true for you.

This 20-year veteran of family medicine says she believes patients want professional closeness, not professional distance. She believes closeness can be done appropriately-and that it should be done.

A family physician talks honestly about the stress and the deep feelings of failure that pile up as she tries, day after day, to meet her clinic's demand to pack more sick patients into 15-minute appointments.

Outside the field, the statistics on physician suicide may elicit surprise. Here, physicians and students who have thought about it write not about surprise but about disbelief that so little help is available.

Being emotionally available and accessible is healing. Are you open to that part of medicine with your patients?

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

A miscarriage, the spontaneous expulsion of a fetus from the womb before it is able to survive on its own, ends 1 in 5 pregnancies.

A psychiatrist in Seattle had picked out the bridge. At 3 AM he would swerve across his lane and plunge into the water. Everyone would assume he fell asleep. An airtight suicide plan. But this doc survived. Why?

Most doctors are burned out, overworked, or exhausted. Physicians rarely ask for help.

A seasoned family physician remembers the day she met her mentor, Dr McLarty-a 70-year-old cowboy who was eating Metamucil wafers while puffing on a pipe. He wore Wrangler corduroys and a crew cut with some gray hairs shooting through. With his thick Texas twang, he slurred his words together around southern slangisms and medical anecdotes.

Raised in a morgue, I worked alongside Dad, the city medical examiner. Over fifty years, he amassed a huge collection of medical artifacts.

The human papillomavirus is also easily transmitted to the anus in men who have sex with men.

A cardiologist looks in. Startled by my emotion, he says, “You must be a new doctor,” then disappears down the hall.

“Evan, here’s the deal: most people hang lower on the left."

Change your name. Don't friend patients. Delete your Facebook account. This is official social media advice for today's medical students and physicians. What fuels physician Facebook phobia?

America: 350,000,000 Guns; 47,000 Psychiatrists

Tired of assembly-line medicine? Don’t wait for politician-saviors. Convene with your neighbors.