A third of emergency medical physicians have experienced bullying in the workplace, a new Australasian survey has found.
The Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM) carried out a recent members survey which found 34 per cent of those who responded had been bullied at work, 21.7 per cent had experienced discrimination, 16.1 per cent had experienced harassment and 6.2 per cent had been sexually harassed.
President of the college, Professor Tony Lawler said bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment were "distressingly common in the emergency care environment in Australia and New Zealand".
The behaviour reported in the survey posed a risk to health, safety and professional well-being and also had a negative impact on the workplace, training environment and provision of care, he said.
"ACEM seeks to promote the highest possible professional standards for emergency physicians. These principles are explicit in college policy and standards for accreditation for training in emergency medicine. These findings are not consistent with whom we believe ourselves to be, and we must respond to that," he said.