Preventing and managing unprofessionalism in medical school faculties

Radiology, Sexual Harassment, and the #MeToo Movement

The rise of the #MeToo movement has sparked renewed conversations about sexual harassment in the workplace. All medical fields, including radiology, can benefit from reflecting on workplace culture, reviewing policies, and committing to change. This review provides an overview of the #MeToo movement, describes the prevalence of sexual harassment in medicine and radiology, summarizes barriers to reporting incidents of sexual harassment, evaluates the backlash to the #MeToo movement, and discusses policies and procedures to aid in preventing sexual harassment in the #MeToo era.

Incidence of resident mistreatment in the learning environment across three institutions

INTRODUCTION

Mistreatment in the learning environment is associated with negative outcomes for trainees. While the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) annual Graduation Questionnaire (GQ) has collected medical student reports of mistreatment for a decade, there is not a similar nationally benchmarked survey for residents. The objective of this study is to explore the prevalence of resident experiences with mistreatment.

METHODS

Residents at three academic institutions were surveyed using questions similar to the GQ in 2018. Quantitative data were analyzed based on frequency and Mann-Whitney U tests to detect gender differences.

RESULTS

Nine hundred ninety-six of 2682 residents (37.1%) responded to the survey. Thirty-nine percent of residents reported experiencing at least one incident of mistreatment. The highest reported incidents were public humiliation (23.7%) and subject to offensive sexist remarks/comments (16.0%). Female residents indicated experiencing significantly more incidents of public embarrassment, public humiliation, offensive sexist remarks, lower evaluations based on gender, denied opportunities for training or rewards, and unwanted sexual advances. Faculty were the most frequent instigators of mistreatment (66.4%). Of trainees who reported experiencing mistreatment, less than one-quarter reported the behavior.

CONCLUSION

Mistreatment in the academic learning environment is a concern in residency programs. There is increased frequency among female residents.

Sexual Harassment in Medical Schools: The Challenge of Covert Retaliation as a Barrier to Reporting

Although Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sexual harassment in educational institutions, was enacted in 1972, sexual harassment continues to be distressingly common in medical training. In addition, many women who experience sexual harassment do not report their experiences to authorities within the medical school.In this article, the authors review the literature on the prevalence of sexual harassment in medical schools since Title IX was enacted and on the cultural and legal changes that have occurred during that period that have affected behaviors. These changes include decreased tolerance for harassing behavior; increased legal responsibility assigned to institutions; and a significant increase in the number of female medical students, residents, and faculty. The authors then discuss persisting barriers to reporting sexual harassment, including fears of reprisals and retaliation, especially covert retaliation. They define covert retaliation as vindictive comments made by a person accused of sexual harassment about his or her accuser in a confidential setting, such as a grant review, award selection, or search committee.The authors conclude by highlighting institutional and organizational approaches to decreasing sexual harassment and overt retaliation, and they propose other approaches to decreasing covert retaliation. These initiatives include encouraging senior faculty members to intervene and file bystander complaints when they witness inappropriate comments or behaviors as well as group reporting when multiple women are harassed by the same person.

Investigating US medical students' motivation to respond to lapses in professionalism

CONTEXT

As unprofessional behaviour in physicians can compromise patient safety, all physicians should be willing and able to respond to lapses in professionalism. Although students endorse an obligation to respond to lapses, they experience difficulties in doing so. If medical educators knew how students respond and why they choose certain responses, they could support students in responding appropriately.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to describe medical students' responses to professionalism lapses in peers and faculty staff, and to understand students' motivation for responding or not responding.

METHODS

We conducted an explorative, qualitative study using template analysis, in which three researchers independently coded transcripts of semi-structured, face-to-face interviews. We purposefully sampled 18 student representatives convening at a medical education conference. Preliminary open coding of a data subset yielded an initial template, which was applied to further data and modified as necessary. All transcripts were coded using the final template. Finally, three sensitising concepts from the Expectancy-Value-Cost model were used to map participants' responses.

RESULTS

Students mentioned having observed lapses in professionalism in both faculty staff and peers. Students' responses to these lapses were avoiding, addressing, reporting or initiating policy change. Generally, students were not motivated to respond if they did not know how to respond, if they believed responding was futile and if they feared retaliation. Students were motivated to respond if they were personally affected, if they perceived the individual as approachable and if they thought that the whole group of students could benefit from their actions. Expectancy of success, value and costs each appeared to be influenced by (inter)personal and system factors.

CONCLUSIONS

The Expectancy-Value-Cost model effectively explains students' motivation for responding to lapses. The (inter)personal and system factors influencing students' motivation to respond are modifiable and can be used by medical educators to enhance students' motivation to respond to lapses in professionalism observed in medical school.

Variability in student perceptions of mistreatment

BACKGROUND

As medical schools strive to improve the learning environment, it is important to understand medical students' perceptions of mistreatment. The purpose of this study was to explore student interpretations of previously reported mistreatment incidents to better understand how they conceptualise the interactions.

METHODS

Medical students were presented with case scenarios of previously reported instances of mistreatment and asked to indicate their agreement as to whether the scenarios demonstrated mistreatment, using a five-point Likert scale (1, strongly disagree; 5, strongly agree). It is important to understand medical student's perceptions of mistreatment RESULTS: One hundred and twenty-seven third-year medical students gave feedback on 21 mistreatment cases. There was variability in the categorisation of the scenarios as mistreatment. The highest degree of consensus (96% agreement) was for a scenario in which a resident claimed a student made statements about a patient's status that the student did not make. There was also relative consensus on three additional scenarios: (1) a patient making disparaging remarks about a student's role in health care in relation to the student's ethnicity (88% agreement); (2) a resident asking a student to run personal errands (86% agreement); and (3) a nurse calling a student an expletive in front of others (77% agreement). For the majority of the cases, there was no consensus amongst students as to whether mistreatment had occurred. Students self-identifying as minorities and students who had previously reported mistreatment were more likely to perceive mistreatment in the scenarios.

CONCLUSIONS

There is remarkable variability, and in many cases a lack of agreement, in medical student perceptions of mistreatment. This inconsistency needs to be considered in order to effectively address and mitigate the issue.

Medical students' perceptions of professional misconduct: relationship with typology and year of programme

AIM

To examine the contribution of programme year and demographic factors to medical students' perceptions of evidence-based classification categories of professional misconduct.

METHODS

Students at an Irish medical school were administered a cross-sectional survey comprising 31 vignettes of professional misconduct, which mapped onto a 12-category classification system. Students scored each item using a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 represents the least severe form of misconduct and 5 the most severe.

RESULTS

Of the 1012 eligible respondents, 561 students completed the survey, providing a response rate of 55%. Items pertaining to disclosure of conflict of interest were ranked as the least severe examples of professional misconduct, and this perception was highest among finalyear students. While ratings of severity declined for items related to 'inappropriate conduct not in relation to patient' and 'inappropriate use of social media' between years 1 and 3, ratings for both categories increased again among clinical cycle (fourth and final year) students.

CONCLUSIONS

Increased clinical exposure during years 4 and 5 of the undergraduate programme was associated with better recognition of the importance of selected professional domains. Disclosure of conflict of interest is identified as an area of medical professionalism that requires greater emphasis for students who are at the point of transition from student to doctor.

Current Practices in Assessing Professionalism in United States and Canadian Allopathic Medical Students and Residents

Professionalism is a critically important competency that must be evaluated in medical trainees but is a complex construct that is hard to assess. A systematic review was undertaken to give insight into the current best practices for assessment of professionalism in medical trainees and to identify new research priorities in the field. A search was conducted on PubMed for behavioral assessments of medical students and residents among the United States and Canadian allopathic schools in the last 15 years. An initial search yielded 594 results, 28 of which met our inclusion criteria. Our analysis indicated that there are robust generic definitions of the major attributes of medical professionalism. The most commonly used assessment tools are survey instruments that use Likert scales tied to attributes of professionalism. While significant progress has been made in this field in recent years, several opportunities for system-wide improvement were identified that require further research. These include a paucity of information about assessment reliability, the need for rater training, a need to better define competency in professionalism according to learner level (preclinical, clerkship, resident etc.) and ways to remediate lapses in professionalism. Student acceptance of assessment of professionalism may be increased if assessment tools are shifted to better incorporate feedback. Tackling the impact of the hidden curriculum in which students may observe lapses in professionalism by faculty and other health care providers is another priority for further study.

A model of influences on the clinical learning environment: the case for change at one U.S. medical school

BACKGROUND

The learning environment within a school of medicine influences medical students' values and their professional development. Despite national requirements to monitor the learning environment, mistreatment of medical students persists.

METHODS

We designed a program called WE SMILE: We can Eradicate Student Mistreatment In the Learning Environment with a vision to enhance trainee and faculty awareness and ultimately eliminate medical student mistreatment. We provide a description of our program and early outcomes.

RESULTS

The program has enhanced student awareness of what constitutes mistreatment and how to report it. Faculty members are also aware of the formal processes and procedures for review of such incidents. Our proposed model of influences on the learning environment and the clinical workforce informs the quality of trainee education and safety of patient care. Institutional leadership and culture play a prominent role in this model. Our integrated institutional response to learning environment concerns is offered as a strategy to improve policy awareness, reporting and management of student mistreatment concerns.

CONCLUSIONS

Our WE SMILE program was developed to enhance education and awareness of what constitutes mistreatment and to provide multiple pathways for student reporting, with clear responsibilities for review, adjudication and enforcement. The program is demonstrating several signs of early success and is offered as a strategy for other schools to adopt or adapt. We have recognized a delicate balance between preserving student anonymity and informing them of specific actions taken. Providing students and other stakeholders with clear evidence of institutional response and accountability remains a key challenge. Multiple methods of reporting have been advantageous in eliciting information on learning environment infringements. These routes and types of reporting have enhanced our understanding of student perceptions and the specific contexts in which mistreatment occurs, allowing for targeted interventions. A common platform across the healthcare professions to report and review concerns has afforded us opportunities to deal with interprofessional issues in a respectful and trustworthy manner. We offer a model of learning environment influences with leadership and institutional culture at the helm, as a way to frame a comprehensive perspective on this challenging and complex concern.

An investigation of professionalism reflected by student comments on formative virtual patient encounters

BACKGROUND

This study explored the use of virtual patient generated data by investigating the association between students' unprofessional patient summary statements, which they entered during an on-line virtual patient case, and detection of their future unprofessional behavior.

METHOD

At the USUHS, students complete a number of virtual patient encounters, including a patient summary, to meet the clerkship requirements of Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, and Pediatrics. We reviewed the summary statements of 343 students who graduated in 2012 and 2013. Each statement was rated with regard to four features: Unprofessional, Professional, Equivocal (could be construed as unprofessional), and Unanswered (students did not enter a statement). We also combined Unprofessional and Equivocal into a new category to indicate a statement receiving either rating. We then examined the associations of students' scores on these categories (i.e. whether received a particular rating or not) and Expertise score and Professionalism score reflected by a post-graduate year one (PGY-1) program director (PD) evaluation form. The PD forms contained 58 Likert-scale items designed to measure the two constructs (Expertise and Professionalism).

RESULTS

The inter-rater reliability of statements coding was high (Cohen's Kappa = .97). The measure of receiving an Unprofessional or Equivocal rating was significantly correlated with lower Expertise score (r = -.19, P < .05) as well as lower Professionalism score (r = -.17, P < .05) during PGY-1.

CONCLUSION

Incident reports and review of routine student evaluations are what most schools rely on to identify the majority of professionalism lapses. Unprofessionalism reflected in student entries may provide additional markers foreshadowing subsequent unprofessional behavior.

The Culture of Academic Medicine: Faculty Behaviors Impacting the Learning Environment

OBJECTIVE

The culture of academic medical institutions impacts trainee education, among many other faculty and patient outcomes. Disrespectful behavior by faculty is one of the most challenging and common problems that, left unattended, disrupts healthy work and learning environments. Conversely, a respectful environment facilitates learning, creates a sense of safety, and rewards professionalism. The authors developed surveys and an intervention in an effort to better understand and improve climate concerns among health sciences faculty at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD), a research-intense, public, academic medical center.

METHODS

An online "climate survey" of all UC San Diego health sciences faculty was conducted in 2011-2012. A strategic campaign to address the behavioral issues identified in the initial survey was subsequently launched. In 2015, the climate was re-evaluated in order to assess the effectiveness of the intervention.

RESULTS

A total of 478 faculty members (223 women, 235 men, 35 % of faculty) completed the baseline survey, reporting relatively low levels of observed sexual harassment (7 %). However, faculty reported concerning rates of other disruptive behaviors: derogatory comments (29 %), anger outbursts (25 %), and hostile communication (25 %). Women and mid-level faculty were more likely to report these behavioral concerns than men and junior or senior colleagues. Three years after an institutional strategy was initiated, 729 faculty members (50 % of the faculty) completed a follow-up survey. The 2015 survey results indicate significant improvement in numerous climate factors, including overall respectful behaviors, as well as behaviors related to gender.

CONCLUSIONS

In order to enhance a culture of respect in the learning environment, institutions can effectively engage academic leaders and faculty at all levels to address disruptive behavior and enhance positive climate factors.

The New Academic Environment and Faculty Misconduct

Faculty members are expected to abide by codes of conduct that are delineated in institutional policies and to behave ethically when engaging in scientific pursuits. As federal funds for research decrease, faculty members face increasing pressure to sustain their research activities, and many have developed new collaborations and pursued new entrepreneurial opportunities. As research collaborations increase, however, there may be competition to get credit as the first person to develop ideas, make new discoveries, and/or publish new findings. This increasingly competitive academic environment may contribute to intentional or unintentional faculty misconduct. The authors, who work in the Dean's Office at a large U.S. medical school (University of California, San Francisco), investigate one to two cases of alleged misconduct each month. These investigations, which are stressful and unpleasant, may culminate in serious disciplinary action for the faculty member. Further, these allegations sometimes result in lengthy and acrimonious civil litigation. This Perspective provides three examples of academic misconduct: violations of institutional conflict-of-interest policies, disputes about intellectual property, and authorship conflicts.The authors also describe prevention and mitigation strategies that their medical school employs, which may be helpful to other institutions. Prevention strategies include training campus leaders, using attestations to reduce violations of institutional policies, encouraging open discussion and written agreements about individuals' roles and responsibilities, and defining expectations regarding authorship and intellectual property at the outset. Mitigation strategies include using mediation by third parties who do not have a vested academic, personal, or financial interest in the outcome.