Bullying and harassment in medical schools

doi:10.1136/bmj.38954.568148.BE

BMJ 2006;333:664-665 (30 September), doi:10.1136/bmj.38954.568148.BE

Editorial

Bullying and harassment in medical schools

Still rife and must be tackled

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Recent changes in undergraduate medical education have beenrapid and profound. Faced with the explosion of knowledge, ongoingtechnological advances, patients' changing expectations, therecognition of health inequalities worldwide, and better understandingof educational theory, medical educators have striven to provideundergraduate programmes that equip students with basic knowledge,skills, and attitudes that recognise their immediate progressioninto independent practice and their need to develop skills aslifelong learners.

What remains familiar at the core of medical education is exposureto patients with their multifaceted problems and the experienceof health care at the point of delivery. Sadly, clinical practicealso exposes medical students to some of the best recognisedyet least easily solved problems in medical education: bullyingand harassment. A study by Frank and colleagues in this week'sBMJ reports the experiences of US medical students of this importantbut uncomfortable issue that needs to be tackled.¹

. . . [Full text of this article]

Diana F Wood, director of medical education and clinical dean

University of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge CB2 2SP
(dfw23@medschl.cam.ac.uk)

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This article has been cited by other articles:

Gadit, A A M, Mugford, G (2008). A pilot study of bullying and harassment among medical professionals in Pakistan, focussing on psychiatry: need for a medical ombudsman. J. Med. Ethics 34: 463-466 [Abstract] [Full text]
(2006). Bullying Is Rife in U.S. Medical Schools. JWatch General 2006: 1-1 [Full text]

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