Ending student mistreatment: early successes and continuing challenges

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Professionalism in Medicine
• Student Well-being

Background:

• Student mistreatment is a persistent issue in US medical schools, leading to negative outcomes like burnout and depression.
• Existing strategies to eliminate mistreatment have not established definitive best practices.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and impact of a unique student-faculty collaboration aimed at reducing medical student mistreatment.
• To identify key interventions and lessons learned from a task force dedicated to ending mistreatment.

Main Methods:

• Formation of the Ending Mistreatment Task Force (EMTF) with student and faculty members.
• Implementation of five interventions: shared mistreatment definition, enhanced faculty accountability, a Professionalism Office, tools for authentic learning environments, and student-produced videos.
• Data collection and analysis over six years at a single medical school.

Main Results:

• A 36% reduction in student-reported mistreatment over six years.
• This contrasts with a 4% decline in US medical schools during the same period.
• Successful clarification of mistreatment versus sub-optimal learning and addressed faculty-student communication challenges.

Conclusions:

• A collaborative, multi-faceted approach involving students and faculty can effectively reduce medical student mistreatment.
• Addressing faculty accountability and fostering open communication are crucial for creating respectful learning environments.
• Ongoing challenges include incorporating resident perspectives and managing disrespectful comments towards all stakeholders.