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Leslie Kane, MA | July 11, 2018 | Contributor Information
Sexual harassment can come from many sources, including patients. For this report, we asked physicians about how patients have harassed them or been guilty of misconduct, and how they dealt with it. Medscape's Sexual Harassment of Physicians: Report 2018, published previously, reveals the current state of physician harassment by other clinicians, medical personnel, and workplace/hospital administrators. The following report describes the current state of sexual misconduct from patients—instances occurring within the past 3 years.
Leslie Kane, MA | July 11, 2018 | Contributor Information
Physicians feel a range of emotions when patients become sexual, romantic, or outright aggressive. Annoyance and worry is common, as is the fear that the behavior could potentially escalate. "You have to be tactful in not offending your patient but quickly get out of the situation and get rid of that patient, because they could accuse you of harassment," said one male physician.
Leslie Kane, MA | July 11, 2018 | Contributor Information
More than a quarter (27%) of physicians have experienced at least one incident of sexual harassment from patients within the past 3 years. Most common were obvious sexual overtures, but other actions were more extreme. "I had a patient who continually had the need to expose his genitalia to myself and female staff members," said one female physician. "He tried to be intimidating in that he would attempt to link the exposure to a medical problem, when there never was one."
(Physicians could select more than one response to this survey question.)
In our survey, respondents could choose more than one answer to many questions, so some totals may add up to more than 100%. Elsewhere, totals may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Leslie Kane, MA | July 11, 2018 | Contributor Information
"Patients are always trying to ask a female MD on a date," said one female physician. Similar to results from Medscape's report on physician harassment by other medical personnel, women are more often the target of patients' sexual overtures. Female physicians more often reported that patients acted in an overtly sexual manner; asked them out on a date; and tried to touch, grope, or rub against them.
Leslie Kane, MA | July 11, 2018 | Contributor Information
Dermatologists and emergency physicians are more frequently harassed by patients compared with other physicians, while pediatricians, ob/gyns, and radiologists are less often harassed. Other studies have shown that work-related violence overall is not uncommon in the emergency department.[1]
Leslie Kane, MA | July 11, 2018 | Contributor Information
Women were more likely to tell a patient to halt the behavior. Women physicians were also more likely than male physicians to dismiss the patient from their practice. Completely ignoring the sexual behavior was an effective tactic used by many: "I ignored his advances and continued to provide proper care to the patient that day in the office. He didn't try it again."
Leslie Kane, MA | July 11, 2018 | Contributor Information
In response to being asked out on a date by a patient, male physicians more often said that they would no longer be alone with that patient and asked a nurse or medical staff member to be present during any encounters with that patient. Men also more frequently said that they dismissed the patient from their practice.
Leslie Kane, MA | July 11, 2018 | Contributor Information
About 10% of men and women dismissed patients from their practice who exhibited these aggressive actions. More than half of women said they'd no longer be alone with the patient. "I backed away and opened the door. I told them they will be seeing a male physician only," said one female physician.
Medscape surveyed more than 6200 clinicians to find out whether they had been sexually harassed in the workplace, how they responded, who the perpetrator was, and how it affected their well-being. Report, June 2018
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Leslie Kane, MA
Senior Director
Medscape Business of Medicine
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References
Kowalenko T, Walters BL, Khare RK, Compton S; Michigan College of Emergency Physicians Workplace Violence Task Force. Workplace violence: a survey of emergency physicians in the state of Michigan. Ann Emerg Med. 2005;46:142-147.
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