‘What a Pretty Assistant You Have’: Addressing Sex-Based Harassment by Patient Offenders in Undergraduate Medical Training

Sex-based harassment remains a concern in the medical workplace environment and is negatively associated with physical and mental health complications. Presently, undergraduate medical education fails to provide students with the appropriate toolset to successfully handle sex-based harassment by patient offenders. Through peer discussion and personal experience from a medical student perspective, herein we suggest strategies for individuals at all levels of medical training to help mitigate these uncomfortable situations. Simulation-based training and implementation of frameworks regarding microaggressions are crucial components of the medical curricula which must be incorporated expediently to create cultural change and help combat pre-existing historical precedents.