Bullying in Cardiology: Pakistan's Perspective

This survey aimed to investigate the extent of bullying among junior physicians in cardiology departments, by way of an anonymous web-based questionnaire in Pakistan. A survey of Pakistan cardiology trainees was piloted as a cross-sectional qualitative survey of junior cardiologists (including resident physicians and senior registrars) from teaching institutes all over Pakistan. Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised was used as the tool for monitoring and reporting bullying nationwide. Of 1852 trainees, bullying was reported by 10.2% of males and 13.4% of females. Women had higher odds of reporting being bullied (odds ratio [OR] {95% confidence interval [CI]}: 1.42 [1.07-2.36]; P-value = 0.018), and the religious minority group (Hindu) reported more bullying (OR [95% CI]: 3.27 [2.16-4.73]; P-value < 0.001). Women were more likely than men to report sexist language (24.1% vs 7.5%; P-value < 0.001) while men reported more racist language (4.2% vs 16.5%; P-value < 0.001). Consultants in cardiology (75.4%) and other specialties (68.3%) commonly perpetrated bullying on cardiology trainees. Bullying in cardiology is a common finding and proportionally affects both males and females, religious minorities, and trainees working in tertiary care hospitals. In addition, females are reporting more sexist language being used by consultants as the majority.