• Silvia Ortiz-León, Aurora Leonila Jaimes-Medrano, Silvia Aracely Tafoya-Ramos, María Luisa Mujica-Amaya, Víctor Hugo Olmedo-Canchola, and José Antonio Carrasco-Rojas.
• Departamento de Psiquiatría y Salud Mental, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico DF, Mexico.
• Cir Cir. 2014 May 1; 82 (3): 290-301.

BackgroundHarassment and abuse are forms of persistent intimidating behavior against a person and in medical practice those are accepted and justified at all levels of education and are considered specific to the hospital culture.ObjectiveTo identify the frequency of harassment and some factors related to its existence on residents of medical specialties in Mexico City.MethodA linear study was carried out in which a total of 260 interns pertaining to the following medical specialties: surgery, internal medicine, gynecology and obstetrics, and pediatrics participated. The study took place in three general hospitals in Mexico City. Two evaluations with Leymann Inventory of Psychological-Terrorization (LIPT-60) with 6 months between assessments were performed.ResultsComparison between the first and second evaluations did not show differences in any of the harassment measurements obtained. Of all residents, 265 (98.5%) claimed to have experienced some type of harassing behavior against them at least once during the previous 6 months, with a 1.4 (±0.5) average intensity, showing no difference between men and women. Women received a higher grade than men on the communication block scale. Harassing behaviors that obtained the highest average values were evident intimidation and occupational discredit. Among all harassment measurements, the specialty of gynecology and obstetrics showed the highest grade. The hospital influenced the reported harassment.ConclusionsThe most common harassing behaviors were occupational discredit, verbal threats, shouting, and mockery. The high frequency of harassment that medical residents experience during their hospital training deserves our attention.

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