Background Sexual harassment (SH) impairs physician well-being and performance, yet data on the epidemiology of SH in Internal Medicine are scarce. Here, we set out to assess the frequency and patterns of SH experienced by physicians in Switzerland.

Methods We performed secondary analyses of a web-based survey that focused on physicians’ and medical students’ well-being and career ambitions but also asked for past experiences of verbal and physical SH. Specifically, we asked if they had ever experienced SH at the workplace, and if yes, how often they experience SH. We then conducted gender-stratified descriptive analyses of sexual harassment frequency and determined type and gender of the perpetrators from both close- and open-ended questions. We used Chi-square or Fisher’s Exact test for comparisons across genders.

Results Respondents consisted of 682 physicians (59% women, mean age of men 36, standard deviation [SD] of 10 years, mean age of women 39, SD of 12) and 321 medicals students (70% women, mean age of 25, SD of 4 in both gender groups). Among the physicians, verbal SH was reported by more female than male physicians (74% vs. 38%, p<0.01 for gender difference) and by more female than male medical students (56% vs. 38%, p=0.04). Physical SH was also reported by more female than male physicians (34% vs. 15%, p<0.01) and by more female than male medical students (24% vs. 9%, p=0.01. For both women and men victims, perpetrators were predominantly physicians and patients of the opposite sex.

Conclusion This study provides evidence for a high prevalence of both verbal and physical SH experienced by both physicians in Internal Medicine and medical students in Switzerland, particularly among the women. Existing barriers to reporting and prevention of SH should be identified to improve healthcare work environments in Switzerland.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

The survey study was funded by the Swiss Society of General Internal Medicine Foundation (JM). JMB was supported by a "Beginner Grant" from the "Young Talents in Clinical Research" program of the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS) and the G. & J. Bangerter-Rhyner Foundation. No further funding was obtained for the present analysis.

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The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

The ethics committee of the canton of Bern waived this study (identifier Req-2021-01085).

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The data produced in the present study are available upon reasonable request to the authors.