Charles J. Yeo, MD Samuel D. Gross Professor and Chair, Department of Surgery

A new, civil day!

Recently the news has been filled with examples of incivility and lack of professionalism. In Congress the representative from South Carolina shouted, “You lie!” to President Obama. The final matches of this year’s U.S. Open tennis tournament were marred by inappropriate behavior, both on the women’s and men’s side. At a recent national awards telecast, Kanye West interrupted the presentation to the winner, Taylor Swift. Is civility dead? Surveys of health care workers have pointed out that incivility, and disruptive physician behaviors, occur commonly. The resulting hostile environment erodes cooperation and commitment to high quality care. The Joint Commission has asked hospitals to develop formal and consistent ways of addressing disruptive behavior. There are articles in recent medical professional journals encouraging us to be intolerant of disruptive physician behavior.

Recently, Dr. John Moore brought to my attention the fact that the Thomas Jefferson University (TJU) Code of Conduct, and its accompanying Honor Code, had not been put in place for our faculty, but was in effect for our medical students. I am pleased to report that the Department of Surgery unanimously approved the TJU Code of Conduct and Honor Code and implemented it as a departmental policy.

We feel strongly that disruptive behavior, incivility, and unprofessional behavior, should not be tolerated. We recognize that faculty behaviors influence others, and we wish to serve as positive role models. We condone neither horizontal violence nor vertical violence, and recognize the impact of such behaviors on physical aspects of living, self-esteem, and self-confidence. My thanks go to Dr. Moore and the faculty, residents, fellows, and staff of our department. We have embarked upon a new day. A new civil day!