Discrimination and abuse experienced by general internists in Canada.

OBJECTIVE

To identify the frequency of psychological and emotional abuse, gender discrimination, verbal sexual harassment, physical sexual harassment, physical assault, and homophobia experienced by general internists.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

SETTING

Canadian general internal medicine practices.

RESULTS

The overall response rate was 70.6% (984/1,393); the 501 respondents who classified themselves as general internists were studied. Three-fourths of the internists experienced psychological and emotional abuse at the hands of patients, and 38% of the women and 26% of the men experienced physical assault by patients. The majority of the female internists experienced gender discrimination by patients (67%) and by physician peers (56%). Forty-five percent of the women experienced verbal sexual harassment by patients, and 22% experienced physical sexual harassment by patients. The male internists experienced verbal sexual harassment from nurses slightly more often than the female internists did (19% vs 13%, p > 0.05). Verbal sexual harassment by male colleagues was reported by 35% of the female internists, and physical sexual harassment was reported by 11%. Approximately 40% of general internists reported homophobic remarks by both health care team members and patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Abuse, discrimination, and homophobia are prevalent in the internal medicine workplace. A direct, progressive, multidisciplinary approach is necessary to label and address these problems.