[Perception of mistreatment during medical residency training]

Because previous investigations show that mistreatment during residency is frequent we undertook this research to assess the prevalence of psychological abuse, physical violence and sexual harassment in residency training programs and the professional status of perpetrators. Through a literature review and a previous qualitative study we developed a self-administered questionnaire. Thirteen events that could be experienced by residents and ten possible perpetrators were described in the questionnaire. Residents were asked to record whether they had experienced these events, at least once, and who was responsible. This survey was distribuided among the residents from three hospitals of Buenos Aires city. A total of 322 residents answered the questionnaire (55% women) 72% of whom worked in clinical programs, 22% in surgical programs, and 6% in diagnostic programs. Mistreatment was reported by 89% of the residents. On average each resident recorded 8 different episodes of mistreatment, such as being criticized for not completing administrative work (75%), being shouted at (64%), being humiliated in public (57%), sexual harassment (10%), being exposed to pornographic material without permission (7%), being hit or pushed (15%), suffering racial or religious discrimination (10%). The most common perpetrators were senior residents (26%), chief resident (19%), attending physicians (14%), and nurses (8%). Mistreatment and abuse are commonly experienced by residents in training programs. A multidisciplinary approach is needed to address this problem in the training environment.