Dr Doireann O’Leary and Ciara Kelly have slammed the “shaming” of female doctors, following a controversial study aimed at medical practitioners who post “unprofessional” photos.
The Irish doctors fought back at the viral study by posting photos in bikinis using #MedBikini to slam the recent study.
Taking to Instagram, Dr Doireann posted holiday throwback photos captioned: “This week a scientific paper was published in which male doctors openly admitted to using social media accounts to ‘spy’ on other doctors.”
“They assessed their online presence and deemed content like bikini photos inappropriate.”
“Needless to say, this has caused quite a stir amongst both male and female doctors alike and has sparked the trend #medbikini.”
“How this paper passed an ethics committee and made it through the peer review process is beyond me,” she continued, “But what I do know is that patients don’t care what their doctors do in their personal life or share online.”
“I’ve always shared my personal life quite openly. My patients don’t care about my online presence as long as I’m taking care of them professionally and competently- which I of course always do my utmost to achieve.”
Ciara Kelly also shared a bikini photo to Twitter, alongside an image of her enjoying a cocktail: “Kudos to the awesome and highly professional women in medicine sharing photos rejecting idea they should be told how to dress or behave online – especially considering all they do for us – Thank u.”
https://twitter.com/ciarakellydoc/status/1287073861582946304?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1287073861582946304%7Ctwgr%5E&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fevoke.ie%2F2020%2F07%2F27%2Fextra%2Fdr-ciara-kelly-and-dr-doireann-post-bikini-snap-to-slam-study-about-women-in-medicine
The study in question was published by the Journal of Vascular Surgery, which claimed that “inappropriate attire” – including bikinis, fancy dress and medics posing with a drink – was “potentially unprofessional content” that should not be shared on social media by those who worked in medicine.
The three male researchers who conducted the study created fake online profiles in order to gain access to the personal accounts of medical practitioners to search for “inappropriate” images.
“Young surgeons should be aware of the permanent public exposure of unprofessional content that can be accessed by peers, patients, and current/future employers,” the study concluded.
There was a research study that almost made it to final publication before being retracted that looked at vascular surgeons and professionalism on social media. #medbikinis https://t.co/sMJ50qn338
— Hayley Marie | 🐉 (@HayleyMReads) July 25, 2020
First of all, in what world does a woman spending free time on the beach determine her level of professionalism in the workplace or how competent of a doctor she is? Second, does a woman being 'sexy' negate her ability to also be 'smart'? Maybe they can be both?
— Hayley Marie | 🐉 (@HayleyMReads) July 25, 2020
Surgeons can wear bikinis. ❤️🇲🇽 #medbikini pic.twitter.com/VFf4tHzsUS
— Dr. Daisy Sanchez (@ladaisysanchez) July 25, 2020
Last time I checked, I can wear whatever I want. #MedTwitter #medbikini pic.twitter.com/pij7HJGi0U
— Kesia (@KesiaNguyen) July 25, 2020
It breaks my heart, but this just shows a peak behind the curtain at how behind and backwards the culture in medicine is. Here's a picture of me after finishing my leading Research Thesis on Emergency Vehicle Trauma. Doctors are people too #MedBikini pic.twitter.com/A4zrSYEFNo
— Emily Casey (@emilyscasey) July 24, 2020
#MedBikini bc I’m in a hospital at 4 am, and if you don’t think 12 mi hikes, beers, and bikinis don’t make me a better doctor you’re nuts. pic.twitter.com/0M7kGpWxFv
— Lauren Agoubi (@laurenagoubi) July 24, 2020
The #medbikini movement is one of the best medtwitter things I’ve ever seen. Doctors are people who do normal people things. Big thanks to the horribly misguided and borderline unethical vascular surgery publication that made it all possible.
— Dr. Glaucomflecken (@DGlaucomflecken) July 24, 2020
Following the backlash from the study, two of the conductors tweeted an apology: “We realise that the definition of professionalism is rapidly changing in medicine and that we need to support trainees and surgeons as our society changes.”
“We are sorry that we made the young surgeons feel targeted and that we were judgemental,” they added.
“We offer an apology to every person who has communicated the sadness, anger, and disappointment caused by this article.”
Editor’s Statement Regarding “Prevalence of unprofessional society media content among young vascular surgeons” pic.twitter.com/JAoFgcRtPx
— J Vascular Surgery (@JVascSurg) July 25, 2020
Dr Candice Myhre, an emergency medical practitioner, shared her inspiring story – which has gained worldwide attention in the viral movement.
“Dr Bikini ????will save your life in the middle of the Ocean when you get hit by a boat,” she shared on Instagram.
“I will take you out of the ocean on a surfboard turned into a backboard, tie off your exsanguinating wound with my rash guard, take you to my under equipped urgent care, stabilize you in 1 hour with an IV, oxygen, morphine, fluids, Foley, and put your open femur fracture in Bucks traction, fly you by helicopter to a local hospital, order and interpret all the labs, xrays, CT scans, suture/staple all your wounds, splint your clavicle/ humerus and scapula fractures,sedate you, put a chest tube in your 5 rib fractured hemopneumothorax and fly you by jet to a specialty hospital in another country….all in my you guessed it ????”
“I am an Emergency Medicine Physician standing in solidarity with female vascular surgeons today. NEWSFLASH: FEMALE DOCTORS CAN WEAR WHATEVER THEY WANT,” she continued.
“Female doctors, nurses, NPs/PAs, all healthcare professionals – we can wear a bikini, a dress, or we can wear scrubs. This does not change how good we are at being a healthcare provider. We can wear WHATEVER we want on our free time, and still save your life.”
“Sexism in medicine is alive and well. But we won’t let that stop us. In this ridiculous article published in a well respected medical journal, the vascular surgery authors sought out to determine how many vascular surgeons had participated in what they state is “inappropriate social media behavior”, which they defined as FEMALES IN BIKINIS – BUT GET THIS: NOT MEN IN BATHING SUITS. ”
“Other topics considered ‘inappropriate’ were Halloween costumes (should I take down my pregnant nun costume?) GUN CONTROL and politics. The ‘study’ was written by 3 men who created fake social media accounts to spy on applicants. My dad who was a triple boarded cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon would not approve of their study. Especially since he liked gardening in a speedo.”
“Women in medicine: whether you’re a nurse, medical student, resident, an attending, post your favorite bikini pic/dress pic/halloween pic/anything today and tag me, and #medbikini . We have to drown out the sexism in medicine and keep it moving. It’s 2020 people. Sexism is cancelled.”
In the latest episode of #GossChats, social media star and TV presenter James Patrice addresses the recent cancellation of Dancing With The Stars, being single during lockdown and creating viral hits with his family.
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