Table 2.

Theme 2: Strategies to Address Sexual Harassment

Strategy	Representative quotation
Indirect
Avoid: avoid physical exam, sexual history, or hallways	I typically stay in my office, which is terrible, and in clinic. Try to stay put in one place and not move throughout the hallway. Especially during certain times because I know that it’s either gonna be extra attention that…I don’t need.
Ignore: ignore comment, pretend it didn’t happen, move on, limit answers	Just looking at my computer screen and trying not to engage. I didn’t correct the patient.
Humor: laugh it off, exaggerated response for humor	Trying to put some humor in there, or making it obvious that it’s ridiculous, or even having an exaggerated response, it’s like: “What? Like, why would you think I would be interested in you, you’re so old?”
Redirect: change the subject, redirect back to their health, start physical exam	I find redirection to be the most helpful thing possible, because then again, if you redirect it to their health, realizing, “Hey, this is why we’re in the room. Not to talk about me, or my appearance, or what’s going on with me, but about you, this is your time for your health,” is probably the best.
Non-verbal cues: distance between patient and provider	So, I basically addressed it by physically changing where I was standing in the room… I sort of created more space between myself and the patient
Confrontation: alert patient that behavior is inappropriate and not acceptable	He had said to my medical student “when you’re in the room I want you to be smiling, why don’t you give me smile?” And I could tell that that was very uncomfortable and awkward for her, and I said, “that’s not her role here as a medical student and you don’t have a right to tell her to do that. We are here to do our jobs, and that’s not part of our job.”
Modify encounter
Introduce self as doctor	Now when I walk into a room I always say, “And I am your doctor.”
Depersonalize: share fewer personal details, more impersonal or professional	If I find that a patient is inappropriate and I have to draw boundaries, then my personality might shift a little bit [from] being more personable to being just more black and white. A little more distant or stand-offish.
Leave door open	I’m more likely to leave the door open.
Chaperone: see patient as a team, with nurse or preceptor	I got a weird vibe so I actually went out… and brought the preceptor back in.
Limit duration of visit	[If] I know that it’s gonna be one of these interactions with someone who has behaved in a way that’s made me uncomfortable before, I…talk to the other staff in the clinic to let them know that I probably am not gonna be able to be in this room for longer than this period of time, because of levels of discomfort. And that they should come check in on me.
Modify self
Avoid certain clothing: dresses, skirts, heels	I’ve stopped wearing dresses. I’ve had to censor what I’m wearing. I don’t dress inappropriately at all, and frankly I don’t think it should matter what I wear, but I just try to wear very conservative stuff.
Wear identification: white coat, name badge with title	I introduce myself as Dr. XXX. I literally wear a white coat still. I think that’s important. Even in primary care clinic, I’m wearing my white coat so it clearly identifies myself.… it’s like, “No, I’m the doctor”
Alert others: document in chart, verbal alert	The LPN, she’d stop me to say that she felt very uncomfortable checking him in because of comments that he had made to her, which kinda heightened my radar, I guess, to this interaction.
Debrief: with colleagues, with family	I feel like there is something therapeutic about being able to express the way that it made you feel, and to have support from your colleagues that you’re not wrong in feeling that way.
Report: limited reporting, not sure who to report to	To be honest I don’t even know who I would report to.