Doctor tells of bullying, sexual harassment

01 August 2016 - 08:42 By KATHARINE CHILD

When doctor Yumna Moosa complained last year about alleged sexual harassment at work, senior doctors told the intern to "grow up and act like a doctor". Some of her exchanges with unnamed hospital superiors are contained in Moosa's YouTube video Secret recordings EXPOSE bullying of junior doctors posted on Friday.The post has racked up 22,000 views in three days and has prompted an online petition.In her video, Moosa plays secret recordings of two senior doctors at an internal grievances hearing.A doctor, who has done a course in mediation, told Moosa that if she continued with her complaint she would never get another job."You never ... when you are young ... want to do something that is going to impact on you for the next 15 or 20 years ... When I say you will never get another job, I say you are unlikely," said the unnamed doctor.He also told her that no department wanted a "loner" who complained.Critics of Moosa have said that her video was one-sided and did not explain what Moosa's complaint was, and if it had merit.Moosa told The Times that the audio clips were recorded in a KwaZulu-Natal hospital but did not name it.Provincial health department spokesman Sam Mkhwanazi said he could not comment until he had more information.Moosa was unable to graduate last year, allegedly as a result of poor performance and mismanaging patients. But that decision was reversed by the Health Professionals' Council of SA. She believes she was targeted for standing up to bullying.One doctor, Karin Morrow, warned that the video was one-sided and "gives no flesh to her complaints so it is impossible to assess their veracity".Another doctor, Karen Milford, said of the people involved: "I think the way Moosa was spoken to and the things that were said [to her] were unacceptable, regardless of whether or not the people interviewing her believed her claims were true."Moosa has switched careers - she is doing a PhD in bioinformatics.An online petition set up in the wake of the video, calls for an end to "the bullying of junior doctors"...

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