Time for some real talk! Bullying and surgery go together like drink-driving; historically seen as no big deal, not uncommon and frequently resulting in disaster. That is of course until some brave souls step in to permanently alter the landscape. Surgery is typically dominated by strong personalities and we as trainees have to learn directly from, and form close relationships with these individuals. It’s also a tough career fraught with challenge and adversity, so resilience is necessary.

However, when does it become too much? Where is the line between 'having a laugh' and 'bullying'? How much 'character building' do you need? Is bullying detrimental in surgery or is it turning you into a capable independent operator who can stand the heat in the kitchen? Do trainees just need to take a joke and get thicker skin?

No surgical trainee will have Patrick Swayze standing up for them like he does for Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing, but we’ve got the next best thing; (former) trainees advocating for trainees ✊.

In the first episode of this two-parter, we're joined by Dave Riding (Consultant Vascular Surgeon, previously Health Education North West) who spearheaded the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh anti-bullying campaign.

We talk about the subtle beasts that are bullying, undermining behaviour and harassment. Does bullying actually result in patient harm? Have we been bullied? Who do we report this to? Should we report this? Wait, so have we bullied someone???! Are we the baddies?!

Lots to unpick…

RCSEd Anti-Bullying Campaign: https://www.rcsed.ac.uk/professional-support-development-resources/anti-bullying-and-undermining-campaign

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