It is all no doubt as captivating to physicians as to everyone else. The results are one part of the Women Physicians' Health Study, which took a wide-ranging look at the health and habits of women physicians. In regard to sexual harassment, it is a major contribution to an area that has until now been studied in a largely anecdotal or limited way. Among the study's most troubling conclusions is that the situation may not be improving, based on the high number of younger women physicians who say that they have been harassed. The biggest problem areas, as reflected by earlier research, are medical school, residency and other training, although respondents report problems throughout their medical careers.
Sexual harassment is wrong in any setting, but in the context of medicine it is a special concern.
It strikes directly at the professionalism that is supposed to be an inherent part of the practice of medicine. The degree to which it interferes with the learning process, also at the heart of what it means to be an effective physician, makes it especially important that the problem be addressed with greater effort. The AMA has positions on this issue that go beyond simply being a scold. Most of the AMA's efforts to date have been aimed at harassment during education and training. The AMA and its Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs have offered detailed guidelines for establishing sexual harassment prevention and grievance procedures, dispute resolution between medical supervisors and trainees, and a code of behavior on the teacher-learner relationship in medical education.