Dressed down, examiner who told off medical student for this ‘short skirt’
A UNIVERSITY has apologised after giving a medical student a disciplinary ‘yellow card’ for wearing an ‘inappropriate’ skirt during an exam.
The woman was taking part in a practical role-play examination on a pretend patient when she was cautioned for wearing a ‘short skirt’ – despite it being cut below the knee.
According to the Journal of General Practice, a yellow card should be shown if a student shows ‘dramatic or dangerous shortcomings’ during an exam.
The student, who goes by the name The Graduate Medic on Twitter, said she complained to the university but was told it was ‘the most inappropriate dress they had ever seen’.
But on Thursday Newcastle University publicly apologised for any ‘offence or distress caused’. In a statement on Twitter, the university said: ‘The comment was made by a role-play patient as part of an exam. All comments made by patients in exams are passed on to students as feedback.
‘However, we agree it should not have resulted in a yellow card from the examiner. This is why, when the concerns were raised with us by @thegradmedic earlier this year, they were investigated and the yellow card was rescinded.
‘We would not want any student to come away from these exams feeling remarks like this in any way reflect the values of the university and the issues will be addressed in future examination briefings.’
But reacting to the apology, the medical student responded: ‘Word for word: “student had short dress with no leg coverings – roleplayer commented immediately, [examiner] said looked unprofessional and I agree”.’
She added: ‘Belittling the situation and the fact that no action has been taken with the examiner is not an apology.’
Her story was initially shared on Twitter by a friend who wrote: ‘A friend did their OSCEs with me recently & got yellow carded for wearing a “short skirt”.
‘Could someone explain to me how it’s 2021 & medical schools are still pushing sexist notions of primness upon its female student cohort, for daring to display their ankles.’
The medical student added she was in contact with the British Medical Association (BMA) about the incident and she was ‘disappointed’ with the university for sharing ‘incorrect’ information.
According to the BMA website, wearing a dress or skirt is acceptable in most hospitals’ dress code.
‘Looked unprofessional’