Introduction: Patient-perpetrated sexual harassment contributes to physician burnout and work dissatisfaction. The focus of urologists and obstetricians-gynecologists (ObGyns) make them particularly vulnerable to patient-perpetrated sexual harassment. We evaluated urologists’ and ObGyns’ experience of patient-perpetrated sexual harassment and their knowledge of how to formally report these events. Methods: A multiple-choice anonymous online survey administered to clinicians in Departments of Urology and ObGyn at a single institution from 9/29/22 - 10/21/22 asked clinicians if they had experienced patient-perpetrated sexual harassment (e.g. gender harassment, unwanted sexual attention, and sexual coercion) as defined by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine. Clinicians were then asked about their knowledge and intent to report. We conducted descriptive analysis by clinician sex, department, and form of sexual harassment experienced and knowledge of reporting using STATA software 15.1. Results: Of 272 surveyed,129 completed the study (Urology: 65%, N:55/85; ObGyn: 40%, N:74/187). Participants were predominately white (Urology: 68%, N:36; ObGyn: 85%, N:63) and female (Urology:60%, N:32, ObGyns:88%, N:65). Gender harassment was the common form of sexual harassment reported (51%; Urology [male 38%, female 81%]: ObGYN: [male 67%, female 35%) as compared to unwanted sexual attention (32%; Urology [male 24%, female 69%]; ObGyn [male 44%, female 14%] and sexual coercion (3.9%; Urology [male 0%, female 15.6%]; ObGyn [male and female 0%]. Notably, only 33% (N:39) of the participants disclosed knowing how to report sexual harassment and of these, 74% (N:29) reported that they would report it. Conclusions: Patient-perpetrated sexual harassment is common and gender harassment is the most common form. Notably, gender discordance between clinician and patient may contribute to increased experiences with gender harassment. These findings have direct policy implications at the hospital and specialty level. There is a need for mechanisms to identify those at risk, protect providers from harassment, and ensure access to safe reporting. These actions are essential to creating a more equitable and inclusive workforce pipeline. SOURCE OF Funding: N/a
