Ophthalmology trainees report differences in their experience of medical training based on their gender, a further analysis of the 2023 Medical Training Survey (MTS) has revealed.
The survey results were originally published in December 2023 and included several interesting findings for RANZCO trainees including a higher-than-average working week (53.3 hours), but a generally positive attitude towards passing their course, securing employment, sticking to a career in medicine.
But more recently, the Medical Board of Australia published a further breakdown of the 2023 MTS results, detailing experiences by gender.
Insight accessed a further breakdown for RANZCO trainees and found significant differences in the experiences of female and males when it came to workplace environment and culture. The survey only included results where more than 10 people answered. In the situations below, roughly 23 females answered compared to around 30 males.
When asked during the past 12 months whether they had experienced bullying, harassment and/or discrimination, 43% of females ophthalmology trainees said they had, while just 3% of males answered yes.
Bullying was the most prevalent issue, with 33% of female respondents saying they had experienced followed by harassment (14%), discrimination (5%) and racism (5%). Meanwhile, for males the numbers were <1% for bullying, harassment and discrimination, and 5% for racism.
The national data across all disciplines showed variations in doctors’ access to research, the quality of orientation and payment for overtime between trainees, according to gender.
For RANZCO trainees, some other gender differences were the average weekly hours worked: 57.2 for females and 51 for males. Also, unpaid overtime adversely affected the well being of 35% of female RANZCO trainees, while for males this was 24%.
Of the more than 23,000 doctors in training who participated in the 2023 Medical Training Survey, 18,000 participants answered the question about their gender. Of these, more than 9,000 trainees identified as female, 8,000 as male and 67 as non-binary. Among RANZCO trainees, 38% are female, 55% male and 7% preferred not to say.
For all medical trainees, those who identified as non-binary reported the highest rates of experiencing bullying, harassment, discrimination and/or racism (no RANZCO trainees identified as non-binary).
According to the report, non-binary trainees reported witnessing bullying, harassment, discrimination and racism at nearly double the rate reported by both male and female trainees. There were smaller variations in reported rates of witnessing these behaviours between male and female trainees.
The source of the behaviour varied across genders. Male and female trainees identified senior medical staff as the primary source, and non-binary trainees identified medical colleagues (registrars and other doctors in training) and other health practitioners as mostly responsible for the behaviours.
The reasons trainees did not report an incident they had experienced also differed across genders. Non-binary trainees indicated they did not report incidents because they believed nothing would be done and/or there was a lack of support, while male and female trainees indicated concern about repercussions.
Medical Board chair Dr Anne Tonkin said the established link between poor culture and increased risk to both patient safety and doctors’ wellbeing required urgent attention.
“This detailed data exposes the impact of gender on doctors’ experience of medical training. With this knowledge, must come action”, she said.
More reading
Medical Training Survey 2023: RANZCO trainees working longer than peers
92% of bullying, harassment cases go unreported by ophthalmology trainees
Overall satisfaction high, but long hours and bullying remain concern for trainees
