Mistreatment & Harassment Resources

Department of Surgery Statement of Non-Tolerance

The Northwestern Department of Surgery explicitly supports and adheres to McGaw's Policy on Non-Harassment and Non-Discrimination. In short, the department is committed to creating an inclusive and non-biased environment and culture for all staff, faculty and trainees and the patients we care for. In addition, we encourage all members of the department to raise concerns and provide feedback. We do not tolerate retaliation. Below you will find key policies and information for those who experience or witness mistreatment or harassment.

What is Mistreatment & What Resources are There?

We recognize that the experience of being mistreated and/or reporting it is incredibly stressful. Here are resources for you to better understand mistreatment, know what policies are in place to support you, and what resources you have for dealing with your mistreatment.

What constitutes mistreatment?

Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine Mistreatment Examples

McGaw's Policies

Reference McGaw's Policy's & Procedures page for:

Addressing Housestaff Concerns & Grievances Policy

Non-Harassment & Non-Discrimination Policy

Raise Concerns & Provide Confidential Feedback without Retaliation or Intimidation Policy

Safe & Healthy Learning Policy

Hospital Policies:

NMH Harassment & Retaliation Policy
Lurie Children's Code of Conduct
Lurie Children's Non-Retaliation Policy
Jesse Brown VA Standards of Behavior Policy

McGaw Wellness Program & Resources

McGaw’s Wellness Program is available to McGaw residents and fellows for any wellness or mental health concerns at no cost. The Program is offered to triage issues and refer trainees for counseling or medical treatment as needed.

Any trainee contact with the Program will remain confidential and will not be communicated with the program, faculty, or institution, except in cases of imminent harm. Contact at mcgawwellness@meridianproviders.com or (312) 477-2109.

The Housestaff Assistance Program through Perspectives is a free service which provides confidential, professional help for housestaff and their family members who need assistance with personal problems. Housestaff are provided evaluation, counseling, and referral for a range of problems including workplace issues, family and marital discord, emotional problems, substance abuse, legal and financial problems, elder and child care, and other personal and professional concerns. If referral to a treatment program is made, insurance coverage will be considered. More info here.

Further details and resources can be found on their McGaw Wellness page.

Department of Surgery Resources

The Department of Surgery Peer Support Program: Submit a confidential request for peer support for yourself or a colleague. This program is intended to solely support residents and faculty.

The General Surgery program schedules biannual check-ins with a Perspectives counselor for every resident during Thursday morning protected time. This person is also available at other times throughout the year and can help you with other referrals if needed/desired.

How to Report Witnessed or Personal Mistreatment

Non-Anonymous but Confidential Reporting

We take confidentiality and non-retaliation very seriously. However, if there is imminent risk of serious harm to an individual and there is no other reasonable option that would allow maintenance of confidentiality (IOA standards of practice), then reporting is mandated to the appropriate authority.

Within the Department of Surgery

Departmental Ombudsperson

Full role description here. Faculty member who was elected by the residents and has been trained to help guide residents through processing their experience, deciding if/how they want to move forward with formal reporting, mediating conflict, and/or emotionally supporting; they are bound to confidentiality unless there is a threat of harm. Ombudsperson reporting form sent to Daniel Davila, MD

Program Leadership
The PD and APDs are available 24/7 and will respond immediately.

Program Director: Amy Halverson
Associate Program Directors: Yue-Yung Hu, Sam Kim, Derrick Christopher

Resident Faculty Mentor

All residents are assigned a faculty mentor who provide career guidance and educational mentorship as residents progress through their residency. They should foster a sense of social connectedness and community to curb physician burnout.

A Non-Clinical Mentor

A subset of faculty have volunteered through the Non-Clinical Faculty Mentor program to mentor residents experiencing mistreatment. Contact Mike Rooney to connect you.

Peer Support Program

Complete the Peer Support request and another resident will reach out ot you to provide support; they will know who you are, but they are bound to keep the conversation confidential unless there is a treat of harm.

Administrative Chief Residents

The General Surgery Program has 2 elected administrative chief residents each year who can offer guidance and support. The AY20-21 Admin Chiefs are Amy Holmstrom & Cary Schlick

Within McGaw (GME)

McGaw representatives, including the ombudsperson, strive to respond within 24-48 hours

Ombudspersons
McGaw representatives, including the ombudsperson, strive to respond within 24-48 hours

Lisa Rone, MD and Ike Okwuosa, MD are GME faculty members tasked with assisting residents in processing their experience, deciding if/how they want to move forward with formal reporting, mediating conflict, and/or emotionally supporting; they are bound to confidentiality unless there is a threat of harm.

Senior Associate Dean for GME & ACGME DIO

Josh Goldstein, MD is the Senor Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and ACGME Designated Institutional Official who oversees all training programs at McGaw.

Executive Director of GME

Nancy Parlapiano is the Executive Director of Graduate Medical Education.

McGaw Housestaff Association

McGaw Housestaff Association is a group of housestaff representing each educational program within McGaw for the purpose of communicating with the administration. Issues are addressed at forum meetings held 6-8 times per year.

McGaw Underrepresented Residents and Fellows Forum

McGaw Underrepresented Residents and Fellows Forum is an inter-departmental group for trainees at Northwestern McGaw who carry out programming in mentoring, networking and career development, outreach, and strategy and collaboration with a focus on diversity and representation.

McGaw Director of Diversity & Inclusion

Linda Suleiman, MD is the McGaw Director of Diversity & Inclusion.

Vice Dean for Education

Marianne Green is the Vice Dean for Education.

Within Northwestern University

Northwestern University Office of Equity

Within ACGME

ACGME

We encourage residents to exhaust institutional resources before alerting the ACGME. However, if residents are unable to find a pathway forward within the institution, the ACGME may be alerted. There is an ACGME ombudsperson who residents can contact via email at ombuds@acgme.org.

Anonymous Reporting

These are free-text online forms on which you do not need to identify yourself. Direct feedback on such a report is not possible, McGaw and Departmental leadership collate this information to help direct change and to provide feedback to any specific identified party in a confidential manner when applicable and appropriate. If you choose to identify yourself, you should receive a response to these reports within 24-48 hours. Both of the options below can be used an non-anonymous reporting if the individual decides to include their name.

McGaw Online Anonymous Reporting Portal

Department of Surgery Ombudsperson Reporting Form

After Reporting Mistreatment or Harassment

Non-anonymous reporters will be contacted. There may be variation in response depending on preferences of confidentiality, nature of the offense, and parties involved, which could involve the department(s), GME, the hospital, or the university as needed. Confidentiality is of the utmost priority. However, if there is imminent risk of serious harm to an individual and there is no other reasonable option that would allow maintenance of confidentiality (IOA standards of practice), then reporting is mandated to the appropriate authority. If you are unsatisfied with the response received through your initial reporting pathway, we encourage you to (1) try another one (particularly program leadership and/or the departmental ombudsperson), and (2) report the unsatisfactory response so that we may improve our systems of collecting this critical information.