VIDEO: Microaggressions, harassment increase burnout among women physicians

In this video, Kimberly J. Templeton, MD, FAAOS, FAOA, FAMWA, past president of the American Medical Women’s Association, describes how biases and harassment impact women physicians and ways to improve their well-being.

Women in medicine often encounter microaggressions and harassing behavior in the workplace, which can increase burnout, lower self-esteem, exacerbate preexisting imposter syndrome and result in a more negative view of the workplace, according to Templeton, who also is professor of orthopedic surgery at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City.

“This not only impacts their well-being, but it could also lead to them leaving medicine,” she said. “As we continue to want to diversify medicine, you do that by having more senior women in positions where students and residents can see them... But if these women are leaving their career, then you are losing that. How do we then continue to attract women to the field?”