Final Year Medical Students' Experience of Bullying: A Study at the University of Cape Town

Fakroodeen, Adam Abdul Kader

Final Year Medical Students' Experience of Bullying: A Study at the University of Cape Town

Master Thesis

2020

Abstract

Background: Medical bullying has been identified as a growing concern internationally, with multiple studies showing a high prevalence in medical students and residents However, several questions remain unanswered, including a) the prevalence of experienced bullying within our local, socioeconomic and ethnically diverse population, b) which population groups are most likely to bully medical students, c) significant demographic data which may impact on severity, frequency and type of bullying experienced, d) what is the correlation between severity, frequency and types of bullying with psychological distress in our local population. This study aims to 1) examine the association between bullying frequency and bullying types with demographic variables in this population, 2) to investigate the association of bullying severity, bullying frequency and psychological distress, and 3) to gather qualitative data on medical bullying in respondents Methods: The data for this research were collected from final year medical students. The questionnaire included the modified Quinne questionnaire assessing different types of bullying and related frequency, and the CORE-GP questionnaire assessing psychological distress. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the quantitative data, and thematic analysis was used to assess the qualitative data. Results: There was a high prevalence of reported bullying (86.8%), with no significant differences of overall bullying across demographic variables. However, certain types of bullying were more commonly experienced by female and black students. Consultants and registrars were reported to bully students more frequently than nurses. Increased bullying frequency was significantly associated with higher levels of psychological distress. The main themes to emerge in the qualitative analysis were 1) Negative emotions relating to demographic bullying, 2)Systemised bullying within specific departments which according to the student are repetitive and expected, and 3) Feelings of academic pressure and fear associated to the bullying they have encountered Conclusion: This study suggests that the frequency of perceived bullying in South African medical students is consistent with rates reported in the literature. Bullying may follow the lines of medical hierarchies (with consultants being perceived as most likely to be the bully). Further, social disparities seem to be associated with increased bullying, with female and black students more often targeted. Specific interventions are needed to address bullying and associated psychological distress.

Keywords

Psychiatry

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