Study shows medical residents fear questioning superiors

Today our season-long project, By Design revisits the workplace. We're looking at a push to redesign some of the most basic structures underlying our working worlds: The hierarchies that run through our workforces... whether you work in a corporate tower, a family run shop.... or a hospital:

Dr. Dylan Bould is an Ottawa anesthetist. He spoke with CBC Radio's As It Happens this week about the hierarchies he sees in his workplace — and the potential dangers they can bring.

It's an issue that's important to Dr. Bould, because of an experience had as a young doctor. He was helping to treat a new mother with a blood infection when a senior doctor ordered some drugs to be administered.

Many residents talked about this pervasive culture of intimidation at work where they felt that their opinion really wasn't valued.-  Dr. Dylan Bould, an Ottawa anesthetist

To Dr. Bould, the dose seemed too high. He didn't believe that the patient could handle it safely. But he deferred to the authority of the senior doctor. And the woman died. That experience was part of what led Dr. Bould to launch a study, looking into how pressure from authority figures can affect medical residents.

The culture, based on fear and intimidation, is said to be changing, albeit slowly, in some Canadian hospitals. We're asking how to go about designing a workplace that's truly free of these pressures... a workplace where junior employees, feel free to speak up to their superiors.

And the world of medicine seems like a good place to continue this conversation. 

Dr Andrew Lynk is a pediatrician. He's also an assistant professor of pediatrics at Dalhousie university and vice chair of the Nova Scotia patient quality and safety advisory council. He was in our Sydney studio.

Moving from the the world of medicine... to aviation. Its' an industry that's facing some difficult questions, following last week's Germanwings crash. But aviation is also considered to be a leading example of dealing with workplace hierarchies. Experts point to a transformation that's happened inside the industry, away from a workplace culture of fear.

Trevor Dale is a former Training Captain with British Airways, and is now a consultant to the health care and aviation industry. He was in London, England,.

Christian Codrington is a director with the Human Resources Management Association, which represents human resources professionals in BC and the Yukon. He was in New Westminster, BC.
 

Let us know if you work, or have worked, where you're afraid to speak up to your boss.

Tweet us @thecurrentcbc, use #by designcbc. You can also email us directly from our website. And post on Facebook.

This segment was produced by The Current's Liz Hoath and Sarah Grant.