Pilot study on the prevalence of abuse and mistreatment during clinical internship: a cross-sectional study among first year residents in Oman

OBJECTIVE To evaluate perceptions of being mistreated during internship among first year Oman Medical Specialty Board residents. DESIGN A cross-sectional study. SETTING Training centres for Oman Medical Specialty Board. PARTICIPANTS First year medical residents following completion of internship during the study period 2009-2010. METHOD A cross-sectional survey of first year medical residents. RESULTS Of 58 residents (response rate 84%), 96.6% perceived that mistreatment exists. Among different types of mistreatment reported, verbal and academic abuses were the most common (87.9%), followed by sexual harassment (24.1%), then physical abuse (22.4%). Forty-four (75.9%) residents had advised at least one of their relatives not to join medical school. CONCLUSIONS Mistreatment of medical interns is an ethical issue challenging the quality of clinical training. Further research is needed to understand factors influencing mistreatment and to draw guidelines to limit such problems.