Virtual Mentor. March 2014

This month in Virtual Mentor

The Problem of Mistreatment in Medical Education

We know three things about mistreatment of medical students and trainees: (1) it is unethical, (2) medical schools and hospital systems are mandated to address it effectively, and (3) medical student reports of mistreatment have not diminished since the problem was first documented more than 20 years ago. Contributors to Virtual Mentor’s March 2014 issue sort out why reported incidents of mistreatment have not declined despite efforts to curb the practice. Major hurdles to reform include medical education’s traditional rites of passage, difficulty in defining mistreatment precisely and collecting valid data about its occurrence, and inability to discipline offenders on the basis of anonymous reports.

To Bully and Be Bullied: Harassment and Mistreatment in Medical Education Ajay Major, MBA Despite increased awareness of the problem, attempts at ameliorating medical student abuse have been largely unsuccessful.

Professionalism versus Antiharassment in Student Evaluation Commentary by Howard Brody, MD, PhD Medical school faculty have a nonnegotiable duty to report students whose professional behavior falls seriously short of the mark. If they refrain from fulfilling this duty for fear of retaliation, the antiharassment pendulum has truly swung too far.

Moving Away from Hazing: The Example of Military Initial Entry Training Gia A. DiRosa, PhD, and Gerald F. Goodwin, PhD The eradication of hazing has not diminished the socialization, camaraderie, or commitment of new recruits. The physical, emotional, and mental demands of basic training suffice to produce the outcomes previously ascribed to hazing.

Pimping: Report or Do Nothing? Commentary by Paul Burcher, MD, PhD By not reporting abusive faculty behavior, a student places his or her grade over the larger good of promoting human dignity.

Upcoming Issues

April Third Parties in the Clinical Encounter

May Ethical Issues in Geriatric Care

June Intersections of Race, Ethnicity, and Medicine

July Ethical Issues in the Physician-Athlete Relationship