Bystander Responses to Bullying and Harassment in Medical Education

Bullying and harassment in medical education are common. The aims of this study were (a) to describe how medical trainees respond to harassment or bullying in medical settings, and (b) to determine whether trainees respond differently based on the type of harassment.

Participants were medical students, residents, and fellows (N=80) recruited from a rural teaching hospital in Pennsylvania. We invited them to complete an electronic survey and react to four standardized situations that included common harassment types in graduate medical education.

On average, 31.6% reported that they would consult with peer colleagues, 50.6% would provide direct support to the victim, 16.3% would approach the perpetrator or intervene directly, and 19.3% would file a formal report with a supervisor or human resources. Findings indicated that respondents as bystanders would intervene significantly more often when harassment was related to inappropriate racial or ethnic comments.

Given that a sizable portion of trainees would speak directly with a victim, training bystanders in strategies to address or mentor others on how to address harassment more effectively could be useful in graduate medical education. Future research might explore trainees' differential reactions to harassment types toward developing more comprehensive intervention programs in graduate and undergraduate medical education.