For more than three decades, Dr. Teresa Kieser has cared for patients at Foothills Medical Center in Calgary as the only female cardiovascular surgeon in Alberta. She has been recognized worldwide for her work and has published several medical and research articles.
But as his career draws to a close, Kieser wants Canadians to think about a different part of his journey: the gender discrimination he alleges he has faced during his 34 years in office.
“I just thought,‘ I can’t fade into the sunset after going through all this, without bringing in the daylight, ’he told Matt Galloway of The Current.
Last month, Kieser filed a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission against his employer, Alberta Health Services (AHS). He said he faced disrespect and complaints about his speed of operation, all because of his gender.
As Dr. Teresa Kieser’s career draws to a close, she wants to shed light on the gender discrimination she says she has faced during her 34-year career. (Submitted by Dr. Teresa Kieser)
“It simply came to our notice then [ignored] and took the road. Because, as a woman in a male-dominated field, you don’t want to shake the boat, “she said.” You’re very happy to do what you’re doing and you’ve come this far. “
Therefore, this human rights complaint, Kieser said, is “shedding light on the conscious and unconscious bias toward women in the workplace.”
In an email to The Current, AHS said it could not comment on specific complaints about privacy issues, but said it was “committed to creating safe and secure jobs for all physicians, staff, patients and families. Any form of harassment or violence is not tolerated. “
“AHS recognizes the opportunity to better support our women physicians, leading women physicians, and our entire medical staff. Any case of misconduct is considered thorough and confidential, and we take appropriate steps to ensure that our people are safe and secure, “AHS said. .
An incident describing his 11-page complaint occurred in November 2020. A colleague asked questions about his trial, clinical decision-making, and technical skills related to two patient cases.
An external investigation soon followed. As a result, Kieser was banned from performing surgeries for more than a year while the investigation was conducted.
According to Kieser’s complaint, an external reviewer informed AHS that a five-year data analysis of his work would be needed to compare it with the work of other surgeons in his group. The complaint alleges that AHS did not carry out the review and that an agreement was finally reached, the terms of which were not disclosed.
Kieser described the whole trial as “inhuman” and said those days were some of the darkest in his life.
“Taking the ability to give to someone is the worst thing that can be done,” he said. “But the people who really suffered were the patients I couldn’t help and the heart surgery students I couldn’t reach.”
Only in this way will change be achieved, if light is shed on the inequalities that women suffer to get where they are.-Dr. Teresa Kieser
Kieser’s case is not unique in medicine. Last year, Dr. Irene Cybulsky, the former head of cardiac surgery at Hamilton Health Sciences, won a case of gender discrimination against the hospital network after the Ontario Court of Human Rights discovered that gender bias had played a role in his expulsion from office.
According to a survey by the Canadian Medical Association of women doctors and medical students at the 2020 Canadian Women in Medicine Conference, 77% of respondents said they had experienced gender inequality in their training or practice environment.
Kieser said he believes now is the right time to make his grievances public.
“It’s hard enough to have heart surgery, no matter how hard you try to look at your back and [see if] someone will attack what you did, “he said.
“It’s the only way to bring about change: to shed light on the inequalities that women face in getting to where they are.”
Labor segregation
According to the CMA, more than half of all first-year medical students in Canada in 2017/18 were women. However, surgery is still a male-dominated field; Kieser remains Alberta’s only cardiovascular surgeon 34 years after entering the field.
Dr. Nancy Baxter is a surgeon who runs the University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health. She says people generally assume that surgeons are men, and this stems from the fact that surgery is still a male-dominated field. (Submitted by Dr. Nancy Baxter)
Part of that comes down to the assumptions people make about surgeons, according to Dr Nancy Baxter, a surgeon who runs the University of Melbourne’s School of Population and Global Health.
“When people think of a surgeon, they usually think of a man,” he said. “So they think of more so-called masculine qualities.
“Surgeons are people who do things, who are decisive, who can be abrasive,” she said, “compared to what people generally think of as female, which is teamwork, collegiate, collegiate. This kind of thing. “
Dr. Marisa Louridas, a surgeon at St. Michael of Toronto says he has experienced it first hand.
“As a junior surgeon, when I think about it, they still don’t see me as a surgeon,” he said. “When I walk into a room, they assume I’m a nurse or some other part of the health care team, and that assumption is very, very strong.”
Because of these assumptions, there is a tendency to question the results of a female surgeon, Baxter said, no matter how experienced or talented she may be.
“When you do it right, it’s luck. When something happens and there’s a mistake or a patient does it wrong, it’s your fault,” he said. “On the other hand, with men, it’s more or less the opposite. When they’re doing well, that’s their skill. And when something happens, that’s bad luck.”
Misogyny is very common … and I think it only comes out, especially in surgery, which is a specialty where women are not yet the norm.-Dr. Nancy Baxter
This way of thinking has its roots in medical school and occupational segregation, Baxter said.
“When [you’re] in medical school … rely on your teachers, your mentors to guide you to the specialty that is most likely to suit you, in terms of your skills, abilities and personality, ”he said. .
“Because women are not seen as surgeons, women are moving into non-surgical specialties.”
Dr. Marisa Louridas is a surgeon at St. Michael of Toronto. He says he has seen the impact that job segregation has had on emerging surgeons. (Submitted by Dr. Marisa Louridas)
Although she has only been in practice for a few years, Louridas said she has seen the impact that occupational segregation has had on emerging surgeons, but also the effect that women surgeons, like herself, can have on counteracting it. these assumptions.
“I have medical students coming to my operating room … and then they send me emails saying, ‘It’s very useful to see a woman in surgery who has a family and she’s still doing this job,'” she said.
“Just talk about it: there’s this hidden resume … driving these medical students away before they step on the hospital.”
The old boys club
Encouraging more women to become surgeons is just one part of the solution, Baxter said.
“Sexism is deeply prevalent in society,” he said. “Misogyny is very common … and I think it only comes out, above all, in surgery, which is a specialty where women are not yet the norm.”
One way you can get out of it is through raw comments about surgeons.
Plastic surgeon Dr. Darby Little, a resident of the University of Toronto, told The Current that once, while in an operating room with other residents and apprentices, men began to classify surgeons with more appearance.
“In retrospect, I think what was so troubling about this experience was that, as a freshman, it didn’t surprise me, it didn’t offend me,” he said. “I almost expected or anticipated this behavior.”
I think we need to change the culture of surgery so that we have more male allies, and men are just not willing to participate when something like this has happened. Nancy Baxter
Louridas said it hurts to hear stories like Little’s, but it’s not surprising either.
“Unfortunately, I’ve been to operating rooms as well, and I think most people have done that, where the conversation isn’t appropriate, especially when it comes to one genre or another,” he said.
Kieser said surgery is still an old boys club and as a result, there is “a lot of unconscious bias” in the field.
“I think some of these men who talk like that, don’t realize it’s offensive, because their father did it, their father’s father did it,” he said. “That’s what we’re fighting for.”
According to Baxter, part of this struggle is to encourage men to speak when they see or hear discrimination in the operating room.
In the operating room where Darby Little was, he said, there were probably some male students. “A lot of them might not want to be involved in that,” he said.
“I think we need to change the culture of surgery so that we have more male allies, and men just aren’t willing to participate when something like this has happened.”
Otherwise, Baxter said, women surgeons will continue to experience what happened to Kieser and Little.
“You can have all the women in the surgery you want. But until my brother’s culture changes, I don’t think anything will change,” she said.
Written by Mouhamad Rachini. Produced by Samira Mohyeddin.