At this month's Surgical Education Rounds, we discussed a classic paper by Musselman et al on intimidation and harassment in surgical education. It was published way back in 2005, but it still has a lot to say about the culture of surgery, and why it's sometimes perceived as a threatening environment. As the authors say:
"Even while their dysfunctional characteristics are recognised, intimidation and harassment are often seen as functional educational tools."
Click on the image for the PubMed abstract