By Elizabeth Hofheinz, M.P.H., M.Ed., August 14, 2019
After all those grueling years of training—ostensibly a
maturation process—there are still some physicians who act like kindergartners,
says one orthopedic surgeon.
“I’m very disappointed in some of my colleagues,” he notes.
“There are doctors targeting other doctors and vilifying them. This nastiness
might be based on the outcome of a procedure or regarding something personal. Instead
of letting things run through their proper channels they are spreading rumors
about their colleagues. Some days I feel like I’m still in kindergarten.”
“We really need higher expectations of professionalism in
our field, as well as better policing of such conduct. The damage caused by
gossip is difficult to prove because in the end it’s, ‘I heard that so-and-so
did…’ I want to ask someone participating in such gossip, ‘If I put you in
front of a panel would you say that?’ Ideally, someone overhearing such
comments would say, ‘I am willing to say I heard this because it is abhorrent.’”
And there is little recourse, says this surgeon. “There is
no compliance officer for such behavior, and we have no data to prove how it
can ruin someone’s reputation. And who is going to start a defamation suit?
It’s pretty bleak if you are on the receiving end of such a problem.”
Wayne M. Sotile, Ph.D., is co-author of The Thriving
Physician, (with Gary Simonds, M.D.). Founder of the Center for Physician
Resilience, Dr. Sotile has worked with thousands of physicians on work-life
issues. He told OSN, “Gossiping is cancerous to a positive workplace and is a
sophomoric way to forge a cheap connection with one person at the expense of
another. Unfortunately, gossiping is one of an array of dysfunctional behaviors
that we have ‘normalized’ in the healthcare setting. We have the deviant norm
of ‘talk about each other, not to each other.’”
“Our research has shown that both resilience and medical
family happiness hinge on physician career satisfaction; and that the quality
of workplace relationships is a primary driver of job/career satisfaction and
resilience. When viewed from this perspective, gossip is seen as a threat not
only to one’s work culture, but also to one’s personal resilience.”
“The next time you find yourself gossiping about a
colleague, ask you self this: ‘Why am I acting like such a self-destructive
coward…chasing the ‘cheap thrill’ of connecting momentarily with one person, at
the expense of another?’ Then, just as you have done countless times in the course
of your career, muster whichever of your reserves it takes, and do the
courageous and right thing: Go speak directly to the person of concern. Doing
so will help not only to preserve your collaboration and your positive
engagement in your work, it will also help safeguard your personal and family
resilience.”
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