Eradicating Sexism and Sexual Harassment in Medicine - Online Conference 2022
When:
—
Venue:
Online
A free online conference for medical doctors on Saturday 12th November 2022
We are delighted to invite you to a free online conference for medical doctors on Saturday 12 November. The conference will discuss eradicating sexism and sexual harassment in medicine. We hope to give doctors and medical professionals the opportunity to speak about sexual harassment in medicine and to provide a platform through which to share their views about what they believe hospitals, medical schools, and practice contexts should do to eradicate the problems.
What inspired the conference?
Caroline Kamau-Mitchell, PhD, received funding from the Wellcome Trust Institutional Strategic Support Fund to Birkbeck to organise this free, online international conference, collaborating with Khalid Bin Waleed, MD, and Mark M. Gallagher, MD. They recently completed a systematic review and meta-analysis of sexism and sexual harassment in medicine. They want to give doctors the opportunity to attend a free, easily accessible conference which gives them the chance to speak about the problem of sexism and sexual harassment of doctors by patients, other doctors, and other staff. The aim of the conference is to give doctors a platform through which to share their views about what they believe hospitals, medical schools, and practice contexts should do to eradicate the problems.
Can I attend this conference and where will it be?
Due to the objectives of this conference, we ask that you only attend if you are a medical doctor or training to be one. You are welcome to attend regardless of your area of medicine or your career role, and you can also attend if you are a doctor in training (including those in medical school), retired or on a career break.
This conference is easily accessible online on Microsoft Teams (accessible through most web browsers). It is free to attend and is an international conference whose timing aims to accommodate different time zones. It is on a Saturday to maximise accessibility for those with weekday commitments.
Open Discussions
The conference will include sessions which will invite doctors attending the conference to speak, debate and share ideas about how to eradicate the problems of sexism and sexual harassment in their area of medicine. Doctors attending the conference will be able to express their ideas and views by speaking through Microsoft Teams’ video/audio or typing in comments within the chat function, and by completing an anonymous conference feedback form.
Online Session
The event will be taking place online on Microsoft Teams and pre-event information and joining links will be emailed to you before the session. Please remember to book onto the event so that you can receive the joining link.
Speakers
- Becky Cox, MD, is a GP specialist in women's health and School of Primary Care Research GPCP fellow at the University of Bristol as well as working on the Surviving in Scrubs campaign, an initiative for doctors who have suffered sexism or sexual harassment.
- Caroline Kamau-Mitchell, PhD, is a reader in occupational health at Birkbeck, University of London, in the United Kingdom. Caroline is the conference chair and will speak about the results of the recent systematic review and meta-analysis, focusing on patient-perpetrated sexism and sexual harassment of doctors, and the impact on levels of burnout and anxiety among doctors.
- Charanjit S. Rihal, MD, is a medical doctor and is the chair of the people and culture committee at the Mayo Clinic in the United States, as well as being a member of the board of governors and a trustee. At the conference, Charanjit will speak about approaches that medical institutions can take to eradicate sexism and sexual harassment in medicine.
- Chelcie Jewitt, MD, is a medical doctor training in emergency medicine in the NHS, as well as working on the Surviving in Scrubs campaign, an initiative for doctors who have suffered sexism or sexual harassment.
- Elizabeth Viglianti, MD, is a medical doctor and assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan in the United States. At the conference, Elizabeth will speak about sexual harassment of doctors by patients with a special emphasis on reviewing this topic for physicians in training. Elizabeth is the lead of equity science in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Ann Arbor Veteran Affairs Hospital.
- Homa Arshad, MD, is a medical doctor and the clinical lead consultant for the Trauma and Orthopaedics Department at the Royal London Hospital. Her practice is in pelvic and acetabular trauma surgery and primary, complex and revision hip and knee arthroplasty. As well as interests in teaching and research, she is co-chair of the Women in Surgery Working Party against Sexual Misconduct.
- Iris Najjar, MD, is a medical doctor and a fellow/resident in infectious diseases at the Division of Infectious Diseases in the University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland. At the conference, Iris will speak about gender discrimination and sexual harassment among medical students and physicians in Switzerland.
- Kalkidan Lakew, MD, is a medical doctor and policy associate at Women in Global Health in Ethiopia, supporting their work on preventing sexual exploitation, abuse and harassment. Lakew was selected as the 2019 Obama Leaders: African Leader and was also selected as one of 2019's 100 Most Influential Young Africans by African Youth Awards. She is a 2020/2021 Chevening Scholar, and works in public health.
- Louise Stone, MD, is a medical doctor and an associate professor at the academic unit of general practice at the Australian National University’s medical school in Australia. At the conference, Louise will speak about sexism in medicine, such as in terms of its impact on medical careers.
- Rebecca Farrington, MD, is a medical doctor, general practitioner and senior clinical lecturer at the division of medical education at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom. At the conference, Rebecca will speak about sexism in medical schools.
- Scarlett McNally, MD, is a medical doctor and a consultant orthopaedic surgeon. At the conference, Scarlett will speak about the sexism experiences of women in surgery. As well as being deputy director at the Centre for Perioperative Care, Scarlett is an honorary clinical professor at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, and President-elect of the Medical Women’s Federation in the United Kingdom.
- Takashi Watari, MD, is a medical doctor and an associate professor at the general medicine centre in the Shimane University Hospital in Japan. At the conference, Takashi will speak about gender biases in academic medicine in Japan, such as in terms of the glass ceiling and the need for appropriate institutional policies to support women’s career progress.
- Tom Stelfox, MD, is a medical doctor, a professor of critical care medicine and the scientific director at the O'Brien Institute for Public Health in the University of Calgary & Alberta Health Services in Canada. At the conference, Tom will speak about strategies to address gender inequity in critical care medicine.
Conference FAQs
I can’t attend the whole day; can I still register?
Yes. We understand that doctors juggle busy schedules and many work or have other commitments on Saturdays, therefore you may attend the conference during the periods when you are free. Simply click on the Microsoft Teams weblink to get back into the conference. However, if possible, we ask that you attend all sessions if you can.
Where, what day, and time, will the conference be?
The conference will take place online on Microsoft Teams on Saturday November 12th 2022. The conference programme will be available in the coming few weeks. Please check back here in this webpage. To accommodate speakers from different time-zones, the conference will be from 9.50am to 4.30pm UK time with breaks for tea, lunch and debates.
I don’t have the Microsoft Teams app in my computer, can I still attend?
Yes. You only need a good internet web browser.
Can I tell my colleagues and friends about this conference?
Yes, please do share this conference weblink with your colleagues and friends via social media and email. The more doctors we have attending the conference, the more views we can listen to, and the better the representation of different areas of medicine in developing recommendations about ways of eradicating the problems.
What will happen after the conference to follow through with doctors’ recommendations?
As part of the funded project, which aims to translate research findings into practice and policy,Caroline will author a report detailing the recommendations made by doctors at the conference, about what they believe should be done to eradicate the problems. The conference highlights will be archived on YouTube to reach doctors who could not attend and policymakers with the power to implement changes in hospitals, healthcare governance and public policy. Caroline will then take the recommendations to government policymakers, hospital governance bodies, and doctors’ associations within the United Kingdom with further translational activities whose aim is to help them translate doctors’ recommendations into policy and practice. Doctors at the conference will be invited to contribute to follow-up activities aimed at reaching policymakers internationally.
What is the conference timetable?
9.50am Conference Start and Welcome
10.00am Working twice as hard, not taken seriously, and other types of sexism in medical schools, training and careers - Open debate
10:20am Impact of benevolent sexism on medical careers - Dr Louise Stone
10.40am Sexism in medical schools - Dr Rebecca Farrington
11.00am How to reduce sexism, bullying, poor behaviours and lack of women in surgery - Dr Scarlett McNally
11.20am Sexual harassment and misconduct, how can we advocate for change? - Dr Homa Arshad
11.40am What can be done to help doctors report sexism and sexual harassment? The Surviving in Scrubs campaign - Dr. Becky Cox and Dr. Chelcie Jewitt
12:00pm Lunch
12.30pm Burnout, distress and the psychological impact of patient-perpetrated sexism and sexual harassment on doctors - Dr Caroline Kamau-Mitchell
12.50pm Patient-perpetrated harassment: is it just a part of the job? Dr Elizabeth Viglianti
1.10pm Patient-perpetrated sexism and sexual harassment in medicine: what is the impact on clinical practice? - Open debate
1.40pm Break
2.10pm Global approaches to eradicating sexism in medicine - Dr Kalkidan Lakew
2.30pm Gender discrimination and sexual harassment among medical students and physicians in Switzerland - Dr Iris Najjar
2.50pm Gender bias in Japanese academic medicine - Dr Takashi Watari
3.10pm Break
3.20pm Institutional approaches to sexism and sexual harassment in medicine - Dr Charanjit S. Rihal
3.40pm Strategies to address gender inequity in critical care medicine - Dr Tom Stelfox
4.00pm Sexism and sexual harassment in medical training and careers: what can be done to eradicate it? - Open debate
4.20pm Conference feedback form: As a doctor or doctor in training, what are your recommendations about what should be done to eradicate sexism and sexual harassment in medicine? Please type in your recommendations within the feedback form (weblink to be provided)
4.30pm Conference end
Contact name:
BEI Events and Communications