by Linda Keslar //
Art by Danny Kim/original image from Getty Images
Just before the pandemic began, a group from Northwestern University and the University of Chicago wrapped up one of the first major studies to describe physician experiences with online harassment. In the offline world, health care jobs are among the most dangerous, and hospital workers face four times the risk of violence as people in other industries (“When Healers Get Hurt,” Winter 2019). The study, published in
JAMA Internal Medicine early in 2021, found that this danger exists online as well, with one in four physicians reporting a personal attack on social media. Top reasons for attacks included the doctors’ advocacy of vaccinations, gun control and access to abortion. But there were also personal attacks based on the poster’s religion and race, and one in six female physicians faced online sexual harassment.