One in four female internal medicine residents experience sexual harassment
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One in four female internal medicine residents reported experiencing sexual harassment compared with one in 31 male residents, according to a research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
“Sexual harassment of medical trainees is associated with burnout, isolation and attrition in the physician workforce,” Elizabeth M. Viglianti, MD, MPH, MSc, an assistant professor at the University of Michigan, and colleagues wrote. “Nearly half of internal medicine residents report mistreatment, predominately from patients and families.”
Viglianti and colleagues drew survey responses of internal residents who participated in the ACP’s 2021 Internal Medicine In-Training Examination between August and September of that year. They examined several factors, which included the type of sexual harassment experienced by residents, gender differences in harassment, knowledge of reporting systems and satisfaction with reporting outcomes.
Of the total 22,277 respondents, more than half were men (55.4%). Overall, sexual harassment was self-reported by 12.8% of respondents — 24.8% of women vs. 3.2% of men.
When broken down by type, Viglianti and colleagues found that 21.4% of women and 1.8% of men reported gender harassment while 11.8% of women and 1.8% of men reported unwanted sexual attention.
About 60% of all residents who experienced sexual harassment had knowledge of the formal reporting system and indicated they would report. However, when asked to reflect on their most impactful experience, 61.3% of women and 66.8% of men said they did not report the incident.
Only 46.8% and 53.4% of women and men who did report the incident were satisfied with the outcome, respectively. Additionally, fewer women reported the incident to residency leadership compared with men (18.7% vs. 30.5%).
The researchers acknowledged limitations to the study, which included a lack of generalizability to specialties outside of the United States, possible fear of disclosure and examination fatigue.
“These findings highlight the need for meaningful action on reports of sexual harassment and mistreatment to create a safer workplace for residents,” Viglianti and colleagues concluded.