The Health Sciences was an intimidating, hostile work environment for cancer specialist Dr. Cathy Popadiuk and Eastern Health and Memorial University owe her an apology, an external report says.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) released the findings of an inquiry into Popadiuk's treatment at Memorial University's faculty of medicine on Wednesday.
CAUT is a national association of university faculty that acts as a watchdog organization for academic freedom and other issues. Dr. Albert Katz, department chair of psychology at the University of Western Ontario led the three-person volunteer panel that did the inquiry.
The report recommends that Memorial University and Eastern Health apologize to Popadiuk, acknowledge that she was treated unfairly, and set up a harassment policy and dispute resolution process for staff.
"I don't want anyone else to have to go through anything like this," Popadiuk says.
"We have policies and procedures now. Bullying, harassment and intimidation are recognized in schoolyards, with our undergraduate medical students, with our postgraduate medical students, and yet we don't have anything for what I call the grownups - the actual staff people and the physicians."
Memorial University's faculty of medicine and Eastern Health refused to participate in the report, and both declined comment on the matter.
Popadiuk still works at the faculty of medicine and at Eastern Health as a gynecologic oncologist - a specialist in women's reproductive cancers. She says she has a good work environment with her colleagues now, but she says there are ongoing problems in the hospital and other physicians are having difficult times. Popadiuk says she is helping to create new bylaws for Eastern Health, which will address some issues raised in the report.
According to Popadiuk, the disagreement between her and her supervisor was over the best treatment options for ovarian cancer. She says that while other physicians traditionally preferred to do a full hysterectomy, removing the woman's uterus and ovaries, she treats with chemotherapy before resorting to surgery.
When Dr. Gavin Stuart, an oncology specialist visited St. John's in 2002, he sent a letter to her supervisor criticizing Popadiuk's research, teaching and the way she treated her patients.
"It was the snowball effect of this letter that came from way out west - that initiated the set of dominoes. There was never any concerns prior to that letter, absolutely none," Popadiuk says.
"I was practicing the way I was trained at Toronto and McGill, nothing stupendous, just what everyone was doing, and it appears someone took issue with it."
The findings of harassment and mistreatment in the report are based on the initial letter and a series of meetings, letters and phone calls that followed, where it was suggested that she change her career into palliative care, and an unusual investigation into her clinical practice was done.
Popadiuk has launched a lawsuit in Newfoundland and Labrador courts against Dr. Gavin Stuart for the letter, claiming defamation of character.
When Popadiuk spoke out about her treatment and the inquiry was launched in 2004, she was fired from her administrative job as associate dean of Student Affairs, moved to an office away from her patients and had her support staff taken away from her.
As a doctor who sees women with reproductive cancer, Popadiuk thought it was particularly inconsiderate that her office was moved to the pre-natal unit, forcing women with ovarian cancer coming to her office to walk past mothers and babies at lactation clinics.
"Popadiuk experienced a pattern of harassment that extended over a period of years: she was placed in an intimidating, hostile environment, has been discouraged by her superiors in carrying out acceptable treatment options she deemed best for her patients," the report says.
The report continues to say that she had her clinical work accessed in a way that denied her justice and had conversations with her superiors that were not constructive.
During the investigation the report says they heard allegations from other physicians at Eastern Health that lead them to believe that her experience is not unique, and that other faculty have been treated in a similar manner.
The report says they found what seemed to be an insular "climate of fear" in the Health Sciences, brought about by the tendency to hire people trained at the Memorial University Medical School.
"Hiring that emphasizes place of birth or of training runs the risk of also nurturing intellectual inbreeding and conformity, and, over the long run, mediocrity," the report says.
More people who were willing to talk to the members of the inquiry were born and educated outside of the province, the report says.
James Turk, the executive director of CAUT says they do not have any formal authority, but he hopes the university and Eastern Health will strongly consider adopting the report's recommendations.
"The recommendations here are in their own interest, so I would suspect they will take them seriously, and we're going to certainly urge them to do so," Turk says.
"It was the snowball effect of this letter that came from way out west - that initiated the set of dominoes. There was never any concerns prior to that letter, absolutely none," Popadiuk says.
"I was practising the way I was trained at Toronto and McGill, nothing stupendous, just what everyone was doing, and it appears someone took issue with it."
The findings of harassment and mistreatment in the report are based on the initial letter and a series of meetings, letters and phone calls that followed, where it was suggested that she change her career into palliative care, and an unusual investigation into her clinical practice was done.
Popadiuk has launched a lawsuit in Newfoundland and Labrador courts against Dr. Gavin Stuart for the letter, claiming defamation of character.
When Popadiuk spoke out about her treatment and the inquiry was launched in 2004, she was fired from her administrative job as associate dean of Student Affairs, moved to an office away from her patients and had her support staff taken away from her.
As a doctor who sees women with reproductive cancer, Popadiuk thought it was particularly inconsiderate that her office was moved to the pre-natal unit, forcing women with ovarian cancer coming to her office to walk past mothers and babies at lactation clinics.
"Popadiuk experienced a pattern of harassment that extended over a period of years: she was placed in an intimidating, hostile environment, has been discouraged by her superiors in carrying out acceptable treatment options she deemed best for her patients," the report says.
The report continues to say that she had her clinical work accessed in a way that denied her justice and had conversations with her superiors that were not constructive.
During the investigation the report says they heard allegations from other physicians at Eastern Health that led them to believe that her experience is not unique, and that other faculty have been treated in a similar manner.
The report says they found what seemed to be an insular "climate of fear" in the Health Sciences, brought about by the tendency to hire people trained at the Memorial University Medical School.
"Hiring that emphasizes place of birth or of training runs the risk of also nurturing intellectual inbreeding and conformity, and, over the long run, mediocrity," the report says.
More people who were willing to talk to the members of the inquiry were born and educated outside of the province, the report says.
James Turk, the executive director of CAUT says they do not have any formal authority, but he hopes the university and Eastern Health will strongly consider adopting the report's recommendations.
"The recommendations here are in their own interest, so I would suspect they will take them seriously, and we're going to certainly urge them to do so," Turk says.
Report recommendations
These recommendations were made by the panel in the Report of the Inquiry into Allegations of Employer Misconduct at Memorial University and Eastern Health:
1. That interested parties get a copy of the report.
2. That Dr. Cathy Popadiuk's employers at MUN and Eastern Health immediately apologize and acknowledge she's been treated unfairly.
3. That the audit of Popadiuk's clinical practice (appropriately anonymized) be no longer considered privileged under the "Evidence Act" so that she can share it with whomever she wishes.
4. That a dispute resolution process be set up that complies with the collective agreement between MUN and its faculty association (MUNFA) and that the procedures be disseminated to the faculty of medicine and Eastern Health and copied to MUNFA.
5. That a harassment policy be developed for staff physicians and distributed to all physicians and faculty in the faculty of medicine and at Eastern Health.
6. That staff physicians in the faculty of medicine and Eastern Health have access to an ombudsperson.
7. That MUN and Eastern Health review the Affiliation Agreement to ensure that (a) jurisdiction of complaint and conflict resolution is clarified, and (b) statements are enshrined affirming the core principles of academic freedom, as appropriate to the demands of clinical care.
Source: Report of the Inquiry into Allegations of Employer Misconduct at MUN and Eastern Health
