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Biomedical subjects

S P Phillips

Publications and source records attributed to S P Phillips.

8 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Medical faculty's views and experiences of parental leave: a collaborative study by the Gender Issues Committee, Council of Ontario Faculties of Medicine.

OBJECTIVES: To examine medical faculty's actual and ideal parental leave arrangements with the aim of informing policy decisions. Leave lengths, effect on career, financial arrangements, and availability of temporary replacements were explored. METHODS: All medical faculty (6387) in Ontario, Canada were surveyed by mail and asked about parental leave experiences since 1990. Responses of men and women were compared as were those of leave takers and the entire group. RESULTS: Thirty-two percent (n = 996) of the 3107 respondents were women and 68% (n = 2067) were men. Ninety-eight percent (n = 317) of new mothers had taken maternity leave, while only 21% (n = 159) of new fathers had. Both paid and unpaid leave was generally shorter than that allowed by law or identified as ideal. Parental leave had a somewhat negative effect on the careers of all faculty. Women were more worried than men about the effect of their absence on colleagues' work and more generous with ideal leave length and funding. Temporary replacement of leave takers was central to an effective leave policy. CONCLUSIONS: Institutional and academic culture may cause new parents to take suboptimal leave despite legislation allowing more. A change in the work environment is required for medicine to offer its teachers what it teaches--that infants benefit from nurturing, nursing, and stability early in life.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗
PubMed1999

Do students' attitudes toward women change during medical school?

BACKGROUND: Medical school has historically reinforced traditional views of women. This cohort study follows implementation of a revitalized curriculum and examines students' attitudes toward women on entry into an Ontario medical school, and 3 years later. METHODS: Of the 75 students entering first year at Queen's University medical school 70 completed the initial survey in September 1994 and 54 were resurveyed in May 1997. First-year students at 2 other Ontario medical schools were also surveyed in 1994, and these 166 respondents formed a comparison group. Changes in responses to statements about sex-role stereotypes, willingness to control decision-making of female patients, and conceptualization of women as "other" or "abnormal" because they are women were examined. Responses from the comparison group were used to indicate whether the Queen's group was representative. RESULTS: Attitudinal differences between the primary group and the comparison group were not significant. After 3 years of medical education students were somewhat less accepting of sex-role stereotypes and less controlling in the doctor-patient encounter. They continued, however, to equate adults with men and to see women as "not adult" or "other." Female students began and remained somewhat more open-minded in all areas studied. INTERPRETATION: A predicted trend toward conservatism was not seen as students became older, more aware and closer to completion of medical training, although they continued to equate adults with male and to see women as "other." Findings may validate new curricular approaches and increased attention to gender issues in the academic environment.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

Gender sensitivity in medical curricula.

Both sex--the biologic aspects of being female or male--and gender--the cultural roles and meanings ascribed to each sex--are determinants of health. Medical education, research and practice have all suffered from a lack of attention to gender and a limited awareness of the effects of the sex-role stereotypes prevalent in our society. The Women's Health Interschool Curriculum Committee of Ontario has developed criteria for assessing the gender sensitivity of medical curricula. In this article, the effects of medicine's historical blindness to gender are explored, as are practical approaches to creating curricula whose content, language and process are gender-sensitive. Specific areas addressed include ensuring that women and men are equally represented, when appropriate, that men are not portrayed as the prototype of normal (and women as deviant), that language is inclusive and that women's health and illness are not limited to reproductive function. By eliminating or at least addressing the subtle and often unintentional gender stereotyping in lecture material, illustrations and problems used in problem-based learning, medical educators can undertake a much-needed transformation of curriculum.

Adult↗
PubMed1997

A qualitative study of sexual harassment of female doctors by patients.

This paper reports the qualitative data from a study of sexual harassment of female family physicians by patients. In addition to the everyday harassment that any woman might encounter in a work setting, the physicians in this study also reported types of harassment which are unique to the practice of medicine. These include opportunistic harassment such as exposure of the genitals, inappropriately touching the physician when the examination requires close contact, excessive discussion of sexual matters for apparent erotic gratification, and acting out behaviours from non-competent patients. Other reported behaviours were not, strictly speaking, sexual harassment but were troublesome nonetheless, including spontaneous erections during physical examinations, physically intimidating behaviour, and ambiguous behaviours which were sexual in nature, but difficult to interpret. The findings are discussed in the context of theory pertaining to contrapower harassment. It is concluded that for some patients the gender of the physician takes precedence over her occupational status and, this combined with the unique characteristics of the doctor/patient relationship, can make the practice of family medicine more conductive to sexual harassment than other professions.

Acting Out↗
PubMed1993

Sexual harassment of female doctors by patients.

BACKGROUND: Sexual harassment within the doctor-patient relationship is typically discussed in terms of male doctors harassing female patients. We investigated the sexual harassment of female doctors by patients. METHODS: Surveys were mailed to a random sample of 599 of the 1064 licensed female family physicians in Ontario, Canada. Respondents were asked about their experiences of sexual harassment by either male or female patients and about the nature and frequency of harassing behavior. Suggestions for prevention were requested. RESULTS: Seventy percent (422) of the questionnaires were completed and returned. More than 75 percent of the respondents reported some sexual harassment by patient at some time during their careers. Physicians had been harassed most often in their own offices and by their own patients. However, in settings such as emergency rooms and clinics, unknown patients presented a proportionately higher risk. The physicians' perceptions of the seriousness of the problem varied with the frequency and severity of the incidents. CONCLUSIONS: Sexual harassment of female doctors appears to occur frequently, and it is therefore an important topic to address in medical school and professional development.

Adult↗