Medicine has yet to have its #MeToo movement, but women in healthcare organizations around the country say such a change is long overdue, according to a February 23, 2018, article by NBC News. More than a dozen women and experts in healthcare spoke with the news outlet, relating their experiences with sexual misconduct in the workplace and describing how commonplace they believe it has become. Female surgeons and residents who spoke to NBC News said their male colleagues acted inappropriately as they rose in the ranks. And for young female employees or female medical students, the structural hierarchies in healthcare organizations often leave them vulnerable to superiors who may abuse their power, according to the article. Past research and surveys support their beliefs; for example, the article said, in a 1995 study, 52% of women in academic medicine said they had been victims of sexual harassment. A healthcare organization that employs one of the women interviewed for the article says it does not tolerate workplace harassment, that appropriate steps are taken after incidents of sexual harassment are reported, and that victims are encouraged to report incidents through a 24-hour hotline. But women in medicine don't consider a hotline to be enough, according to the article. They want the kind of sea change that has recently washed over Hollywood and other industries—a cultural transformation that makes men aware that sexual harassment is unacceptable, and one in which women feel encouraged to support one another. Several of the women interviewed in the article have begun offering to mentor younger medical residents or other women entering medicine, in the hopes that they can help their female peers avoid the harassment they have experienced in the workplace. In related news, MedPage Today on March 7, 2018, featured the transcript of a conversation between two doctors about sexual harassment in medicine.
HRC Recommends: Sexual harassment can occur in any hospital and in any area of a hospital—from the administrator's office to the operating suite—and can involve staff and employees at all levels of the organization. Many, if not most, instances of sexual harassment go unreported, and aggressive behaviors go unchecked. Younger physicians and physicians-in-training may hesitate to report sexual harassment for various reasons (e.g., concern that it might adversely affect their careers). Risk managers in teaching institutions and facilities that are sites for residency training should ensure that physicians-in-training and faculty are made aware of the organization's sexual harassment prevention policies, are encouraged to report sexual harassment, and are informed as to how to report it.