Bullying of Medical Students - A THREAD

After receiving a rather demotivating comment from a consultant today, I was thinking about the ways in which Med Students are bullied on placement. I feel it's a topic which is very neglected.

So I thought I'd write a thread on it.

Quite rightly, many experienced doctors on here talk about the importance of being there for junior doctors. The topic of being there to support Medical Students is one which doesn't seem to get as much attention.

So here are some examples of how I've been bullied in the past.

During one placement, a consultant asked me a question. I had no clue as to what the answer was.

Without warning, he took a SC needle on his desk and jabbed me with it for not knowing the answer. I literally had no idea what to do. A nurse in the same room just laughed.

On another placement, I had to miss a tutorial because I had to attend a routine mental health appointment. I told the Professor this in confidence.

His response?

"I guess some people are only accepted into Medical School to fit their disability quota'

Then there's the racism

Consultants refusing to call me by my proper name because 'it's too difficult to pronounce'

Another consultant going 'what backward sand-worshipping land are you from?' after getting a question wrong.

And my other friends have encountered worse.

The thing is - as Medical Students, we are already stressed. Some of us have been away from family for the first time, are struggling financially, have long commutes and so on.

And it's no secret that mental health issues are high amongst students. Bullying does no favours.

But when I have tried to complain about these problems, it has often been met by 'ignore it, he/she is just like that'

This makes me feel very powerless as to what I can do when things are brushed away. It's no wonder that Medicine has a problem with things like racism or sexism

Then other doctors simply roll their eyes and go 'pfft, students these days' before detailing how years ago, they had to deal with worse.

I honestly can't see what the objective is here. Like, do they want a medal or something? Because it doesn't solve the problems we still have

But the worst is the response of everyone around you at the time of the actual bullying happening. In most examples that I've given, there were other people - doctors, nurses etc. - around.

In every case, no one stood up for me. In fact, it was the opposite. They laughed along.

The topic of bullying amongst Medical Students is something which needs to be looked into properly and addressed. The very least that people can be doing is not laughing along to it.

Sadly, even that doesn't seem to be happening. #MedTwitter #MedStudentTwitter

Thank you everyone for the kind comments/messages and stories. I'll reply properly tomorrow as I'm tired now!

But I should say - the bullying has never actually come from Faculty members at my Med School. In general, they're so lovely. It's doctors within the trust.