Sexism is ‘rampant’ within Irish medicine

Sexism is "rampant" within the Irish medical profession, according to an academic and consultant who claims that senior women within the industry have advised junior doctors to turn a blind eye to the problem to safeguard their career prospects.

Veronica O’Keane, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin, described as “outrageous” recent comments by Australian-based doctor Gabrielle McMullin, who claimed that she advises female trainees that they are better off complying with their superiors’ sexual advances for the sake of their careers.

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“Of course there is a boys’ club within medicine. There’s absolutely no doubt about that, and sexism is rampant,” said Prof O’Keane, who is also a consultant at Tallaght Hospital.

“But nobody would make a comment like that, and I have never, ever heard anyone advising a junior doctor, and I would certainly never advise, to give sexual favours to a male colleague.

“It defies belief that a senior colleague in medicine would be advising junior colleagues in such a way. It is contrary to everything women have worked so hard to achieve, clearly you don’t get to an ambitious position like that without generations of women having worked very hard for a woman to have such a position.”

However, Prof O’Keane said that there is definitely a sexist culture in Irish medicine and that many women in the profession do not challenge it.

“If you ask me are the people who practice medicine sexist, absolutely, of course they are,” she said.

“I don’t think women challenge the misogyny and sexism that is there.

“I was recently at a meeting where there were a group of female consultants speaking and the consultants were divided as to whether you should put up and shut up in relation to sexism in the workplace or whether you should actually challenge it in order to change the work culture.

“There seems to be a belief among some female consultants that you would impair your chances of promotion and success if you challenged sexism.”

“That is reinforcing it then for younger colleagues because younger colleagues are learning that from their older colleagues and they think, ‘oh yeah, this is harmless, I’ll put up with this and that way I’ll ensure promotion.’ That is certainly a belief that is out there.”

Prof O’Keane said it was her belief that the misogyny in Irish medicine extends beyond the profession and impacts how female patients are treated in Ireland.

“While we may all be outraged by [Dr McMullin’s] comment, at the same time we had a very hot debate last year about whether women who are at risk of death would be permitted in law in Ireland to have an abortion,” she said.

“In my mind that is a form of misogyny that is embedded in our society and in medicine, because the medical community were quite divided about it as well.

“Another example of misogyny is the defence of some of the symphysiotomies that women underwent as recently as the 1970s.

“I think psychiatrists saying that you can’t trust a suicidal woman who says that she wants an abortion, that’s misogyny.

“So yes, misogyny is here. It may not be present in Ireland the way it is in Australia, but it is definitely there and it’s most certainly there at the very higher echelons in medicine.”

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