#MDsToo: A student mistreatment prevention curriculum for faculty members and residents

Abstract

Medical student mistreatment has detrimental effects on student well-being and poses a patient safety risk, yet 40% of medical school graduates report being mistreated during their training. Unfortunately, this statistic has not changed significantly since 2013. The 'hidden curriculum' contributes to the pervasiveness of mistreatment in medical schools in the USA. The #MDsToo curriculum was developed to mitigate the effects of the hidden curriculum by sensitising faculty members and residents to mistreatment. During the curriculum, participants are introduced to the KIND (knowledge-sharing, inclusive, non-discriminatory, developmentally appropriate) framework for modelling positive teacher-learner interactions and detecting mistreatment. Using KIND, faculty members and residents identify and categorise mistreatment in eight video cases depicting mistreatment, and reflect on their own experiences with mistreatment. Two hundred and forty-eight participants responded to a course survey. Most had experienced mistreatment. After the training, almost half stated that there were situations in the past that they did not recognize as mistreatment that they would now classify as mistreatment, and most stated that they were likely to report mistreatment now. The #MDsToo curriculum may provide an effective design for mistreatment prevention training. Next steps include multi-institutional implementation and longitudinal outcome studies.