Gabrielle McMullin

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Gabrielle McMullin
Born1956
Uganda
NationalityAustralian
OccupationVascular surgeon
Known forPromotion of gender equality in surgical training
Children2

Gabrielle McMullin MB BCh BAO FRCS FRACS MCh is an Australian vascular surgeon, [1] author and gender quality advocate.

Contents

Career and personal life

She was born in 1956 in Uganda, studied medicine in Ireland then worked in New Zealand, Hong Kong and England before finally settling in Australia where she has worked in the field of vascular surgery. [2] She has a professional interest in chronic leg ulcers. She has published multiple scientific papers. [3]

Gender equality advocacy

She has written one book chapter "Women in Medicine: Sisters doing it for themselves" in Pathways to Gender Equality: The Role of Merit and Quotas. [4] Her notoriety relates mainly to comments she made in 2015 at the launch of this book.

The specific comment which caused the most controversy was "What I tell my trainees is that, if you are approached for sex, probably the safest thing to do in terms of your career is to comply with the request." [5] These comments were widely reported in the Australian media. The initial response included much outrage [6] that a senior female surgeon would ever advise a female surgeon in training to accede to an unwanted sexual advance rather than report it. [7] [8] The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) immediately responded with insistence that the correct procedure was to report these incidents for appropriate investigation and that such incidents were rare. After the reports of outrage from some media commentators and initial denials by the RACS of a systemic problem, Dr McMullin responded with specific case histories of surgical trainees who had made complaints which were inappropriately handled. Many had led to the complainant being forced to end surgical training, with the alleged perpetrator going unpunished. Dr McMullin referenced multiple cases that she was aware of that were anonymously confirmed. [9] One of the female surgeons Dr Caroline Tan was prepared to go on the record with her experience [10] with many reporting off-the-record.

Response of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Whilst Dr McMullin's original comments were highly provocative and controversial, they have indirectly led to major changes to governance of surgical training in Australia. [11] [12] A draft report of the RACS found that instead of being rare, 50% of surgical trainees reported bullying (albeit that cultural discrimination was slightly more common than sexual harassment). [13] In 2016, the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons formed an official Diversity and Inclusion plan. [14] Fewer than 15% of active Fellows in surgery in Australia are female as of 2020.

See also

Bullying in medicine

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References

  1. ↑ "Gabrielle McMullin". www.surgeons.org. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Pathways to Gender Equality in Australia - The role of Merit and Quotas » ACLW.org". ACLW.org. 6 March 2015.
  3. ↑ "Gabrielle McMullin search". PubMed.
  4. ↑ French, Erica; Hanusch, Folker; McMullin, Gabrielle (2015). Pathways to gender equality in Australia : the role of merit and quotas. [Minnamurra, N.S.W.]: Australian Centre for Leadership for Women. ISBN   9780987334145.
  5. ↑ Matthews, Alice (9 March 2015). "Surgeon stands by comments that female trainee doctors should not report sexual advances". ABC News.
  6. ↑ Walker, Peter (9 March 2015). "Australian senior surgeon attacked for remarks on sexual harassment". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  7. ↑ Burke, Liz (9 March 2015). "Why being a moderately pretty blonde doctor means I have been taught to accept sexual harassment at work". News.Com.Au.
  8. ↑ Price, Jenna (10 March 2015). "Women in hospitals: put upon and harassed". The Canberra Times.
  9. ↑ Scott, Sophie (9 September 2015). "'He could destroy my life': Report reveals widespread bullying among surgeons". www.abc.net.au. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  10. ↑ Medew, Julia (12 March 2015). "Surgeon Caroline Tan breaks silence over sexual harassment in hospitals". The Age. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  11. ↑ "Why I would like to congratulate surgeon Dr Gabrielle McMullin for her suggestion that female trainees give in to sexual harassment in the workplace". My Health Career. 8 March 2015. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  12. ↑ McMullin, Gabrielle. "Sexual harassment: time for a "black box"?". InSight+. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  13. ↑ "Cut to the Quick". www.wiseworkplace.com.au. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "RACS Diversity and Inclusion plan" (PDF). AMA. RACS. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
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