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AMA, other groups take aim at medical student mistreatment
Approximately one in five medical students report that they have experienced mistreatment, according to a graduation questionnaire of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Data from the questionnaire over the last three years suggest that belittlement and humiliation are the most pervasive forms of mistreatment (85 percent of mistreated students), followed by requests for personal services (24 percent), offensive remarks of a sexual nature (22 percent), and lower evaluations (21 percent).
The most prevalent sources of mistreatment (reflecting data over the last 11 years) were residents (68 percent), clinical faculty (66 percent), nurses (39 percent), patients (28 percent), and even fellow students (17 percent).
The AMA held an invitational meeting earlier this month to bring together key organizations and individuals committed to addressing this issue. Attendees looked at the need to better define and quantify mistreatment and considered issues of reporting, confidentiality and adjudication.
This work is directly related to the AMA's Innovative Strategies for Transforming the Education of Physicians (ISTEP) program, which seeks to evaluate medical education processes and outcomes; develop physicians who are knowledgeable, competent and compassionate; and ultimately improve the care of patients.
For more information, check out "Optimizing the Learning Environment: Exploring the Issue of Medical Student Mistreatment," an education program held at the AMA 2011 Annual Meeting that outlined the scope of the problem and suggested potential solutions.
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