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Ali's Story

Ali

We had a series of lectures in the second year from a professor who’s well known in the medical school. One of my friends in the year above told me they are really great lectures, so long as you don’t get picked on. Well, I arrived late for the first one and had to sit in the front row and I did get picked on. After that, no matter where I sat, he found me and asked me questions that were just impossible to answer. I was really embarrassed because he made me look stupid in front of everyone and they all thought he was really funny.

Ali’s response

After about the fourth lecture, I realised he was going to keep on picking on me and I wasn’t prepared to put up with it any more. Everyone else thought he was hilarious and that I was taking it too personally. I know that he’s really well respected in his field as a researcher and I didn’t want to criticise him too openly – maybe I was just being a bit sensitive. Also, he is actually a really good teacher and I didn’t want his lectures to stop completely. I went to see one of the student reps and told her what was going on. She said I wasn’t the first student to complain about him so she thought I ought to submit a report. I did it anonymously because I didn’t want him to know who had complained or I might get picked on even more.

Outcome

I realise the QAEU couldn’t take any specific action because I hadn’t put my name on the report, but I heard that the next year he had toned it down a bit and didn’t pick on people so much. Maybe it was less funny for everybody else, but it was definitely better that way. Also, now I’m a bit more experienced, I realise how important it was that I did something – how could I stand up for my patients if I couldn’t even stand up for myself?

Raising Concerns Reporting Form