Bullying and Sexual Discrimination in the Greek Health Care System.

Introduction: Modern medicine is based on teamwork and communication. Bullying and discrimination can have a serious effect on these, affecting the standard of medical training and patient care.

Aim: To determine the incidence of bullying and sex discrimination in the Greek health care system.

Methods: An online questionnaire was designed and circulated among Greek medical professionals.

Results: We received 1349 completed questionnaires with a response rate of 48% and with 45% of them being female. Equal opportunities in specialty training were reported by 55% of the participants. Female doctors in medicine and in surgery reported no equal opportunities at an incidence of 15% and 30%, respectively (p < 0.001). Family obligations and lack of family support were considered as the main obstacles in female doctors' professional development by 92% and 59% of the participants, respectively. Both sexes appeared to have suffered from various forms of abusive behavior with characteristics that vary between them. Verbal abuse, threatening behavior, and sexual harassment were reported by 50%, 38%, and 20%, respectively, with women being 3 times more likely to be victims of sexual harassment (34% vs. 9%, p < 0.001). Finally, the availability of official support mechanisms was reported in only 15% of the cases, whereas friends and colleagues were the main support for 46.17% of the cases.

Conclusion: This is the first study attempting to preliminary describe the extent of bullying and sexual discrimination in the Greek national health care system. Despite the limitations of this study, it is imperative that more research is performed on this issue from the appropriate national authorities.