Teaching

Warning: There is discriminatory language on this page

Racism, sexism, queerophobia and other misanthropic attitudes are explicitly reproduced in the quotes sent to us.

Comment:

We are in the process and internal discourse about the dilemma between making visible and reproducing strongly misanthropic statements in the context of healthcare. We do not want to conceal what happens again and again. On the other hand, many of the examples are also difficult to bear and reading them can be retraumatizing.

We have not yet found a final solution. At the moment, we are still opting to make most of the submissions visible on this page (some of them censored) and we are trying to avoid reproduction even more explicitly on Instagram.

Please take care of yourselves and make a conscious decision to read the following pages. If strong feelings arise while reading, it may help to discuss your thoughts with friends. You are also very welcome to write us an email at sayit@mhh-asta.de, even if you would like to share your thoughts on the above dilemma. We will get back to you and are also happy to talk to you in person.

You can find further offers of help here.

Collection of quotes

• During my clinical traineeship in a gynecology department, the senior physician asked me to perform a vaginal examination on a patient under anesthesia. There is never a better time to practice than when the patient is already asleep. How can I reconcile my conscience with examining the patient vaginally for practice purposes without her consent?

• During the lecture, a lecturer begins his example with: "So one side effect of the drug is cheating. I asked my wife how many pairs of shoes are normal for a woman, so that we have an indication of when the buying behavior is pathological. That's difficult to judge in women."

• The head physician of a surgical department comes to teach students. The group consists exclusively of male medical students. He looks around and says: "Finally, a real group of men again."

• In a seminar on taking blood, the head of the department explains: "You can use force sometimes. Men are often quite mimosas."

• In a lecture, a lecturer mentions the many opportunities to go abroad during your studies at the MHH. After the lecture, I ask him what specific opportunities there are in the pre-clinical semesters. He replies: "That's mainly possible in research. I can get in touch with you if someone from America contacts me and says they need a young blonde researcher."

• In the internship, the names were read out as usual. When my name was pronounced incorrectly, I corrected the project manager. He*she immediately replied that he*she didn't always have enough time to look at the student first before pronouncing the name. (I don't look German).

• In one lecture, women and men happened to be sitting mostly separately, so there were mostly women on one side of the lecture hall and mostly men on the other. The lecturer then turned to the mainly male students and said: "Yes, it's also interesting for the men here that we have so many head physician positions, the women want to have children at some point anyway, that's just the way it is" (he then looked to the other side of the lecture hall with a laugh). He then explained in detail how the men could get into these positions.