Can Misogynists Be Rehabilitated? Art Day, MD and the Case of the Travelling Neurosurgeon
Assaulted by multiple communications about Art Day, MD, former chairman of neurosurgery at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and soon to be program director for neurosurgical residents in the South, I have to interrupt my blog series for this important announcement. Yes, indeed. Day loses in a huge gender discrimination lawsuit brought forward by Sagun Tuli, MD in the liberal state of Massachusetts, so he leaves Boston to find refuge and a prestigious job in not so liberal Texas, in Houston at the U of T. Recycling at its finest.
Not a first-time subject of my blog, Day should have faded into the sunset sporting a big red “M” on his scrubs. Despite the tremendous, not very flattering, publicity surrounding this man, he will now be “training” medical students (50% of whom are women) and residents in neurosurgery (less than 5%, if that many, are women) at UT Houston. Wow, I claim gender discrimination and fight it for ten years. U. at Buffalo’s interpretation of my settlement is that I cannot even talk to residents and students. Day is found guilty of harassment in Boston and he gets to direct their training in Houston. Yes, I should have left Buffalo and go where I would be appreciated. Day did.
When I spoke to reporter Jennifer Epstein from Inside Higher Education, she took my most hopeful comments to print. Can a known, perhaps even self-avowed, misogynist be rehabilitated and become ready (once again) to train our nation’s future doctors? Being much too politic, I tried to take the high road (a good position in talking to any reporter who will, more likely than not, put your comments into their own convenient context.) But, as I said, and as it is written, he is being given a second chance. And for everyone’s sake I hope he doesn’t blow it this time.
But I believe sexual harassment is nothing more than a sophisticated form of being the almost-impossible-to-change sexual predator. This usually, but not exclusively, male takes license to insert sexual images, words, and actions into an environment he controls. An environment which must be free from such distractions. (The Kama Sutra on his PDA is unmatched in my experience!)
No prude am I—I admit to enjoying occasional ribald humor in the OR (where I am in control) — but these moments of levity are quite different from the litany of never-ending assaults with overt sexual references dished out by Day. It’s hard enough to handle brains in surgery without having someone messing with yours.
Should sexual predators who use sexual harassment as their vehicle be allowed a second chance?
I did tell that reporter I am hopeful that Day might have changed. But I hope for a lot of things that are unlikely to happen. Wishful thinking is rampant in the world of feminism. I plead guilty and hope there is no need for a future blog on Day. (I am also hopeful that the UT at Houston medical school will avail themselves of my expert consultation services to check their gender equity barometer which may be on the fritz.)
The University of Texas has taken a huge chance on him. Students and some faculty are pretty angry. Were there any women on the search committee? Was there a search committee? Or was this appointment one “old boy” to another? (Just like in Buffalo) I would bet on the latter scenario over the former.
While Day is appealing the ruling on the $1.6 million awarded Dr. Tuli, he is going to get another chance to prove himself worthy of the title of “doctor/healer”—compassionate, empathic, and caring—or not. The New Testament (Luke) enjoins us, “Physician, heal thyself.” Is it possible? Does he deserve this chance?
Weigh in on this one, everybody. But while we are all holding our breaths, if I were a woman who wanted to become a doctor, especially a surgeon, I would think more than twice before heading to Houston.
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6 Comments
Thank you for this article. There are many very troubling aspects to this hire besides the obvious that a doctor who retaliates against women subordinates and believes in strip club parties for residents is placed in a position of authority as residency program director. First, it is rumored here that EEOC-compliant posting of the position was not done, no other candidates were interviewed for the position, and neither the sole woman faculty member nor the sole African American male resident in the neurosurgery department were consulted on this hire. There was no true search or search committee. In addition, it appears that Dr. Day was given a “professor” position without Board of Regents approval. A hire done as quickly as this one can only be at the level of Visiting Professor. The UTHealth physician practice plan also requires that all new hires be licensed to practice medicine in Texas. Dr. Day is not, so an exception was made for him (unbeknownst to Practice Plan members). Moreover, UT-Houston went so far as to use their one of their precious Faculty Teaching Certificates to get him clinical privileges. These exceptions have never been offered for a female hire. This is characteristic of an administration who has excluded women from leadership positions by using internal searches for chairs and executive vice presidents and provosts (advertised as “national searches” to the faculty and staff here) and promoting the men. There are very few tenured women faculty, women in endowed positions, or women in leadership positions here, and gender inequity in compensation has also been a longstanding problem. This is the same institution that fired an auditor because she reported that 300 faculty were downloading porn onto their office computers and wouldn’t minimize the findings. Unfortunately, Dr. Day has found a fitting home at UT-Houston. I can only hope that those responsible for this perverse hiring decision — Dr. Dong Kim, the chair of neurosurgery, Dean Giuseppe Colasurdo, and President Larry Kaiser — will be subjected to the appropriate level of scrutiny internally and externally, and suffer appropriate repercussions. After all, this is a State university. The mayor of Houston is a gay woman. Women faculty and staff, residents, fellows, and medical students are all extremely upset about this hire, how it was conducted, and the woman- and minority-hating physician now among their midst, and feel a sense of betrayal from their male leaders. There has been no explanation whatsoever from the administration since the news broke. Dr. Day is a man who went out of his way not only to harass women in the workplace, but also to try to destroy the careers of some of the finest women physicians at Harvard. Someone needs to hold Kim, Colasurdo, and Kaiser accountable. Ken Shine sure won’t.
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nice post. thanks.
You tell a troubling story. Certainly bears further investigation. Thanks for sharing.
The leadership of the UT-Houston Health Science Center, in particular President Larry Kaiser, continues to defend the hiring of Dr. Day — today in an email to all of the faculty and staff — without acknowledging any of the damaging findings against Dr. Day, and, more importantly, without providing a transparent and accountable process to review the hiring decision in the first place. Further research has revealed that Dr. Day was reprimanded by the American Board of Neurological Surgery in 2008 for his involvement in a case in which a neurosurgical resident took a certification exam using another resident’s name (see [PDF] STATE OF NEW YORK OFFICE OF THE STATE INSPECTOR GENERAL Final …File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - Quick View
Oct 29, 2008 … The New York State Inspector General found that Charles Hodge, M.D., while …. involvement of Dr. Arthur Day in the matter. …
http://www.ig.state.ny.us/…/Doctor%20Failed%20to%20Report%20Reprimand.pdf). How UT-Houston officials can justify putting Dr. Day in the program director position in light of this latter reprimand, much less the gender discrimination issues, is obscene. The arrogance that President Kaiser has shown in defending the hiring decision is exactly why this has happened at UT-Houston.
If what you say is true, I would wonder how the RRC who must approve of all program directors, would allow this appointment to occur. Any opinions out there? Do they know?
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