Skip to main content
PMC home page
CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal logoLink to CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal
. 1994 Feb 1;150(3):357–363.

Differences in abuse reported by female and male Canadian medical students.

R Moscarello 1, K J Margittai 1, M Rossi 1
PMCID: PMC1486154  PMID: 7832819

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To assess differences between male and female medical students concerning their experiences of abuse during training in a large Canadian medical school. DESIGN: Voluntary, anonymous cross-sectional survey of first- and fourth-year medical students during February 1991. SETTING: University of Toronto School of Medicine. PARTICIPANTS: Of 396 first- and fourth-year students surveyed after one of their regular classes, 347 (117 women, 230 men) completed the questionnaire. INTERVENTION: A 165-item, multiple-choice questionnaire concerning experiences of verbal or emotional abuse, sexual harassment and physical abuse, completed within 30 minutes. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Differences between male and female respondents in abuse experiences before and during medical training, the relation between abuse before and during training, and the psychologic and behavioural effects of abuse during training. RESULTS: The experiences of the male and female respondents differed mainly in regard to sexual harassment: 42% (49/117) of the women and 11% (25/230) of the men reported sexual harassment before entering medical school (p < 0.0001); 46% (54/117) and 19% (43/230) respectively reported sexual harassment during medical training (p < 0.0001); and women who reported sexual harassment were the only respondents for whom a significant relation was found between abuse before and during training (p < 0.043). The women were more distressed than the men by all forms of abuse. A significant relation was shown between male students who reported experiencing abuse during medical training and mistreating patients (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: Female students' experiences of sexual harassment differed from those of their male counterparts. As well, the female students' reactions to and ways of coping with all types of abuse differed from those of the male students.

Full text

PDF
357

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baldwin D. C., Jr, Daugherty S. R., Eckenfels E. J. Student perceptions of mistreatment and harassment during medical school. A survey of ten United States schools. West J Med. 1991 Aug;155(2):140–145. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Clark E. J., Rieker P. P. Gender differences in relationships and stress of medical and law students. J Med Educ. 1986 Jan;61(1):32–40. doi: 10.1097/00001888-198601000-00004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Girelli S. A., Resick P. A., Marhoefer-Dvorak S., Hutter C. K. Subjective distress and violence during rape: their effects on long-term fear. Violence Vict. 1986 Spring;1(1):35–46. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Komaromy M., Bindman A. B., Haber R. J., Sande M. A. Sexual harassment in medical training. N Engl J Med. 1993 Feb 4;328(5):322–326. doi: 10.1056/NEJM199302043280507. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Lloyd C., Gartrell N. K. A further assessment of medical school stress. J Med Educ. 1983 Dec;58(12):964–967. doi: 10.1097/00001888-198312000-00008. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Notman M. T. Depression in women. Psychoanalytic concepts. Psychiatr Clin North Am. 1989 Mar;12(1):221–230. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Richman J. A., Flaherty J. A., Rospenda K. M., Christensen M. L. Mental health consequences and correlates of reported medical student abuse. JAMA. 1992 Feb 5;267(5):692–694. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Sheehan K. H., Sheehan D. V., White K., Leibowitz A., Baldwin D. C., Jr A pilot study of medical student 'abuse'. Student perceptions of mistreatment and misconduct in medical school. JAMA. 1990 Jan 26;263(4):533–537. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Silver H. K., Glicken A. D. Medical student abuse. Incidence, severity, and significance. JAMA. 1990 Jan 26;263(4):527–532. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Vaillant G. E., Milofsky E. Natural history of male psychological health: IX. Empirical evidence for Erikson's model of the life cycle. Am J Psychiatry. 1980 Nov;137(11):1348–1359. doi: 10.1176/ajp.137.11.1348. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Wolf T. M., Randall H. M., von Almen K., Tynes L. L. Perceived mistreatment and attitude change by graduating medical students: a retrospective study. Med Educ. 1991 May;25(3):182–190. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2923.1991.tb00050.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal are provided here courtesy of Canadian Medical Association

RESOURCES