A , in which a group of young men trawled vascular surgeon trainees' social media accounts for purportedly "unprofessional" offenses related to profanity, alcohol, attire, and other, set off a backlash on Twitter.
Body shaming under the guise of unprofessionalism is heinous. The gender bias is unreal. The editorial process failed here. The authors failed us. Instead of highlighting the too often HIPAA noncompliance,instead they shamed bikini wearing and held up their own views.
— Yewande Alimi MD (@YewandeAlimiMD)
The #medbikini hashtag called for female physicians to post their "professional swimwear":
article says photos of vasc surgeons in a âprovocative pose wearing bikiniâ is unprofessional.
Iâll say it: I wear bikinis.
I am going to be a doctor.
I also have a belly button ring.
I am a professional person.Pls share ur professional swimwear & tag
— rheuminate (@londyloo)
I'm here in support of my female Vascular Surgery colleagues because (gasp) also wear bikinis on family vacations. Women doctors are like real people. Having some fun in our free time does not make us unprofessional. Wellness makes us better doctors.
— Erin D. Michos, M.D. (@ErinMichos)
Apparently itâs unprofessional for doctors to post social media pics wearing bikinis & drinking alcohol, so hereâs me doing both.
Also deemed unprofessional, profanity & political talk but these dudes can fuck off b/c health care should be free at the point of care.
— Dr. Victoria Dooley (@DrDooleyMD)
bc Iâm in a hospital at 4 am, and if you donât think 12 mi hikes, beers, and bikinis donât make me a better doctor youâre nuts.
— Lauren Agoubi (@laurenagoubi)
Participated in a photo shoot celebrating post-partum bodies of all shapes & sizes & abilities & genders. As an ATTENDING. In my UNDERWEAR.
— Amy G Dala MD (@AmyGDalaMD)
I'm incredibly happy to see that there has been so much support and calling out the blatant double standards in medicine that exist far beyond the world of twitter. And glad to see all these fearless women physicians fighting for our right to be in this space.
— Carmen Simmons (@whereinmyworld)
Male physicians tweeted in #HeforShe support:
Does this count? I think it should count.
— Dr. Glaucomflecken (@DGlaucomflecken)
Does this make me look unprofessional? Or do those standards not apply to me?
— Ilan Vonderwalde (@ilanvonder)
Some of the authors issued identical apologies:
I would like to apologize for the paper "Prevalence of unprofessional social media content among young vascular surgeons." Our intent was to empower surgeons to be aware and then personally decide what may be easily available for patients and colleagues to see about us.
— Thomas Cheng (@twtcheng)
Tweeps upped the ante:
It was conceived of and written by a multi-person team
— Esther Choo, MD MPH (@choo_ek)
A decision editor pushed it out for review
It was read by ~3 peer reviewers
A decision editor gave the final okay
Thatâs a whole culture all on the same page
Time to change
This is a call for the retraction of your paper: . It is highly inappropriate and discriminatory. It does not reflect the values of your institute and that of this profession.
— SluttyMD (@MdSlutty)
Now the paper is being retracted with an apology from the journal:
Editorâs Statement Regarding âPrevalence of unprofessional society media content among young vascular surgeonsâ
— J Vascular Surgery (@JVascSurg)