Sexual Harassment In Medical School
Sexual harassment on student rotations is probably something that happens more often than we think. I honestly believe it gets under-reported due to fears of a bad evaluation or getting kicked out of medical school altogether. Residents or attending physicians that make inappropriate advances or comments toward students are a vital part of a medical school’s academic program and seeing a big stink over a sexual harassment case is the last thing that the administration wants. That being said, programs and departments will go to great lengths to attempt and cover up or candy coat any sexual harassment complaints that a student may have.
As I was browsing SDN today, I came across a thread about sexual harassment during student rotations. Reading through the replies, you’ll see that feelings are mixed. Some students believe in reporting the offense immediately while others would decide to let the offense go in lieu of a poor evaluation.
Here are some examples from the thread:
The chief resident was staring at a medical students breasts, and made a ridiculous comment about them in front of the group.
A surgery attending asked if a student wanted to see his persian cucumber.
A resident created a nickname for a medical student, which happened to mean vagina in another language. He called her this in public.
An anesthesia attending touched a nurse inappropriately, but she just brushed it off.
A chief resident grabbed a medical students hands and would not let it go. He gave suggestions along the lines of she should come back with him.
See, here’s the problem. People are still scared to report inappropriate work environments, even when we’re dealing with something as serious as sexual harassment. Guys, we’re going to have to get rid of these ideas that your medical school has brainwashed you into believing if this kind of crap is ever going to stop.
I want to see sexual harassment offenders lose all practice priveleges, be terminated from the institution in which they practice, and have their medical license brought up for review by the licensing committee. If serious actions are taken, these assholes will quit thinking that they’re God and start playing nicely.
If you’re the victim of sexual harassment while on rotations as a student or resident, here’s what I think you should not do:
- Don’t bring up any complaints to junior staff. They’ll most likely side with their superior and probably don’t want to get involved with it anyway.
- Don’t mention the offense to the perpetrator. The offender knows that he or she is doing wrong and will blatantly deny that any offense ever took place.
- Do not take your complaint to the Dean of Medicine, or anybody else in the administration that is linked to the practice of clinical medicine or rotations at your institution. As explained earlier, they’ll do all they can to protect the school and program. You are not in their best interest.
- Do not wait until your grade is released to file a complaint. This could backfire on you.
- Do not threaten the perpetrator that you will turn them in. Let them think that all is harmless.
OK, so what should you do if you’re a victim of sexual harassment on rotations?
- Contact a lawyer for advice. Preferably get one that specializes in workplace sexual harassment abuse.
- Contact your hospital’s legal department and risk management informing them that you have been a victim of sexual harassment. Let them know you have already talked to your lawyer, which should expedite getting your appointment scheduled.
- Set up an appointment to talk to risk management about the incident and make sure that your lawyer accompanies you to the meeting.
In my opinion, you should bypass all clinical faculty completely. I know that administration tells you to let them know about problems such as these, but I honestly believe it’s because they want to intercept the problem before it reaches legal and/or risk management. Take it right to the source immediately.
What Are The Implications of Reporting?
Most of you might be worried about the implications of reporting an incident. I’m not going to lie and tell you that other attendings aren’t going to know that you were the one who squealed. I think you’ll find that the majority of attendings and staff are not going to show any ill-feelings towards you. You certainly will not be dismissed from school and your grades on other rotations shouldn’t suffer.
Take a lesson from the movie North Country and report the abuse. Only then will change take place.
It’s just another mentality of authoritarianism that almost every med students gets brainwashed into. They never question anything or anyone b/c they are made to feel absolutely worthless even after all the hardwork, studying, and money they put in to become a doctor. And I think these people posting on SDN are just the tip of the iceberg.
Sexual harassment of medical students by residents is extremely common at my institute. The offenders have never been reported, to my knowledge. The medical students— always women— refused to bring the issue up to anyone because of the reasons you listed here: fear of a bad grade, fear that they are going to be kicked out of medical school, fear of problems and abuse during future rotations. And then the behavior continues.
I once filed an incident report against the attending because he was violating students’ work-hour rules. The deans managed to do a fairly convincing job of portraying themselves as angry administrators who would quickly resolve the problem. That was six months ago. Nothing has been done to this attending, he continues to force students to stay on the wards even when they are post-call.
I wish I could say that once I did higher up in the ranks I would take a stand against inappropriate behavior by residents in attendings, but unfortunately I plan on leaving academia the moment I finish residency. I think that a lot of us are so frustrated by the way that universities are handled that we bail out at the first opportunity. Thus, medical schools get taken over by cowards who are too afraid to take a stance in the first place.
these days this probably comes more frequently from residents than attendings, but probably still occurs with both. one of the problems in medicine is that there is always so much sexual innuendo that occurs, especially in the OR, that it is sometime hard to differentiate true sexual harassment vs people having fun.
when we speak of sexual harassment, understand that it is a serious allegation that IS taken seriously at most institutions. let’s be clear on what is considered sexual harassment.
Sexual harassment is a form of sex discrimination, which is a violation of Title VI I of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC’s guidelines define two types of sexual harassment: “quid pro quo” and “hostile environment.”
“QUID PRO QUO” SEXUAL HARASSMENT – Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute “quid pro quo” sexual harassment when submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment, or submission to of rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such an individual.
“HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT” SEXUAL HARASSMENT – Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute “hostile environment” sexual harassment when such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment. The central inquiry is whether the conduct “unreasonably interfered with an individual’s work performance” or created “an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.” The EEOC will look at the following factors to determine whether an environment is hostile: whether the conduct was verbal or physical or both; how frequently it was repeated; whether the conduct was hostile or patently offensive; whether the alleged harasser was a co-worker or supervisor; whether others joined in perpetrating the harassment; and (whether the harassment was directed at more than one individual. No one factor controls. An assessment is made based upon the totality of the circumstances.
Is one incident considered sexual harassment? In “quid pro quo” cases, a single sexual advance may constitute harassment if it is linked to the granting or denial of employment or employment benefits. In contrast, unless the conduct is quite severe, a single incident or isolated incidents of offensive sexual conduct or remarks generally do not create a “hostile environment.” A hostile environment claim usually requires a showing of a pattern of offensive conduct. However, a single, unusually severe incident of harassment may be sufficient to constitute a Title VII violation; the more severe the harassment, the less need to show a repetitive series of incidents. This is particularly true when the harassment is physical. For example, the EEOC will presume that the unwelcome, intentional touching of a charging party’s intimate body areas is sufficiently offensive to alter the condition of his/her working environment and constitute a “hostile environment.”
If someone believes that there was sexual harassment, the victim should directly inform the harasser that the conduct is unwelcome and must stop. It is important for the victim to communicate that the conduct is unwelcome, particularly when the alleged harasser may have some reason to believe that the advance may be welcomed. However, a victim of harassment need not always confront his/her harasser directly, so long as his/her conduct demonstrates that the harasser’s behavior is unwelcome. The victim should also use any employer complaint mechanism or grievance system available.
sexual harassment is taken very seriously and can be cause for privileges being revoked.
Wow, I just found this website. It is so nice to see that others have the same problems (sorry, I don’t mean this in a bad way at all.)
My medical school experienced were peppered with things like this, but nowhere as bad. I really wonder if it is more than other industries, but I think it is: Doctors get to control people -> attracts a**holes who like to control people. It is, unfortunately, the same with priests that get to hang around kids. A subset are terrible individuals.
I agree with not taking it to superiors, who do nothing. I have written two complaints during my entire training (now almost an attending) and nothing happened either time. If I were in a case as severe as yours, I would also recommend getting a lawyer, and just bullying them into change back. Nothing else will likely work.
That, and then just getting the heck out of there if the culture is throughout that institution. Spread the word — post the name of the institution!
This kind of thing makes me nuts. As a staff nurse I have seen this crap and have witnessed the med student deny, deny, deny. After a few more incidents the nurses on their own decided enough was enough and we intervened on behalf of the med student.
We were blunt and we threatened very bad things. She got a written apology and this jerk got yanked out of teaching. Sadly he still is allowed to practice and last we heard he got banned from medical records for grabbing one of the assistants by the breasts and squeezing.
I recommend that if you have a good relationship with your nurses ask one to hang around. A nurse who witnesses this harassment can act quickly with real power. We have a chain of command that reacts to incidents.
Nurses can also limit the scope of reaction.
This is the joy of working as a team. You have our back and we have yours.
Be kind to the nurses…you never know when you may need us to kick someones ass on your behalf.
Thank you for the good advice on not taking your complaint to the dean of the medical school. I had a serious sexual harrassment complaint and I was told not to take it further it because it would make me seem as though I was instigating the harrassment. He just wanted to cover his own arse. In retrospect I can see that and I wish that I had complained.
I am a female medical student at a foreign medical school who was verbally, physically, emotionally, and sexually harassed by another female medical student (both of us are straight, not lesbian). She was a serial bully and had bullied many other medical students, both male and female.
When I reported the bullying, I was expelled from the medical school, and the bullies were allowed to stay. They claimed I made false allegations.
I was reaccepted to another foreign medical school in a different country, and the old medical school is still trying to smear my reputation, calling my new dean and telling them garbage about me, calling the residency programs in the United States and Canada and asking them not to take me. The new medical school didn’t listen, thankfully, and I still matched into a residency despite all this.
But yes, this does happen.
I would have told the doctor who asked if the student wanted to see his persian cucumber this. Of course if I can put it in a salad afterwards!