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Medical Students’ Experience of Harassment and Its Impact on Quality of Life: a Scoping Review

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Abstract

Objectives

Medical students’ experiences of harassment and its influence on quality of life were examined.

Design

A set of databases were employed in this review, and using ATLAS.ti, a set of emergent themes were identified.

Results

The initial search identified 4580 potential articles for review. The inclusion and exclusion criteria reduced the list to 48 articles. Two predominant emergent themes were categorised as ‘Antecedents’ of ‘harassment’ and ‘Consequences’ on quality of life.

Conclusions

Harassment likely has an adverse impact on quality of life, although more empirical research is required to establish more definitive links between the two variables.

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Fig. 1
Fig. 2

source elements of harassment, types of harassment and purported impact on quality of life

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Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

MAH conceptualised and supervised the study. JS was integral to the development of the initial list of papers considered for review. All authors were responsible for preparation, review and editing of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and agree with the order of presentation of authors.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marcus A. Henning.

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This article is a scoping review and hence did not require ethics approval.

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All authors gave their informed consent for inclusion as participating authors.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Henning, M.A., Stonyer, J., Chen, Y. et al. Medical Students’ Experience of Harassment and Its Impact on Quality of Life: a Scoping Review. Med.Sci.Educ. 31, 1487–1499 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-021-01301-2

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