Otolaryngology’s #MeToo: Gender Bias and Sexual Harassment in Medicine

by Karen Appold •

Karen Appold is a freelance medical writer based in Pennsylvania.

Getting Ready For Work

Earlier this year, Twitter user @McSassyMD, whose profile descibes her as an emergency medicine resident, posted how she gets dresses for work: “[I] put on a sports bra because sometimes patients look down your scrub top when you listen to their heart/lungs. I wear enough makeup so I feel confident, but not too much or ‘she doesn’t take her training seriously.'”

Dozens of other female medical professionals commented about why they also carefully consider their appearance at work:

  • I stopped wearing makeup at work as a med student because I got tired of patients asking me out and making friendly comments. I’m your doctor. This is a hospital, not a dating service.
  • I had an older doctor complain that my clothes were too casual. At the time, I wore black pants and a blouse every day. Now I wear scrubs every day.
  • I wear a turtleneck and loose pants to leave essentially no skin bare. [Once] a patient made a gross and humiliating comment about my body in front of an all-male medical team. The team didn’t say anything. Afterward, one of my peers brought it up and said he thought it was inappropriate. Another laughed and said he thought it was hilarious.
  • I once wore lipstick to work and my coordinator asked me if I was trying to pick up a man. Yes, I’m trolling for a date at work while relentlessly trying to keep my patients alive.

Source: @mcsassymd. February 27, 2018.