Professional Lynching: Dirty Tricks To Silence One

For the most part, we don’t have to contend with lynching, but there is a modern-day method of trying to impact someone’s life: their energy or drive to continue. I call it professional lynching. Under the guise of “the best interest of society”, ”concerns for someone’s well-being”, or “upholding certain standards”, there’s a litany of other excuses for similar toxic behavior.

We see this behavior in all walks of life.

The underlying motivations for those who engage in these actions can stem from self-hate, jealousy, bias, perceived threats, loss of power and privilege, and much more. We like to believe that we are all colleagues and on the same team, but this is often far from the truth. How many healthcare providers feel muzzled because they’ve seen what happens when someone else becomes a scapegoat to prove a point? How many of us turn a blind eye to injustices in healthcare?

Like hungry wolves closing in on their prey, they have taken the time to study their prey and plan their ambush. In the modern world of professional lynching, they stretch or exaggerate the truth, gaslight, and sing a new tune. Sometimes these wolves come disguised as sheep—gentle, sweet, and ever so caring. However, this is far from the truth.

Professional lynching in the medical field manifests in various scenarios where individuals are unfairly targeted and subjected to damaging consequences. One common instance is when healthcare professionals take a moral stand or advocate for patients’ rights. Despite their noble intentions, they may face backlash from colleagues or superiors who perceive their actions as disruptive or non-conforming to the status quo.

Another situation arises when a healthcare provider’s clinical approach diverges from conventional practices. For example, practitioners who incorporate alternative therapies like vitamin supplements into their treatment plans may encounter skepticism or criticism from peers who adhere strictly to traditional medicine. Despite eventual validation of their methods, these pioneers often endure ostracization and ridicule in the interim.

Furthermore, instances where professionals are scapegoated for adverse patient outcomes due to systemic deficiencies illustrate another facet of professional lynching. A tragic example is the case of a nurse in the United States who was unjustly charged with manslaughter after a patient’s death, despite systemic failures beyond her control.

In a noble profession like medicine, we expect a higher level of integrity, transparency, and social skills. The truth is that in medicine, we are dealing with humans, and as humans, we are flawed. Sadly, sometimes ego, biases, and discrimination abound in medicine—sometimes it’s your boss, your medical board, fellow colleagues, and even your patients.

Unless we bring these ugly truths of professional lynching into the open, we will continue to have astronomically unacceptable rates of physician suicide. Unless we continue to expose the truth of professional lynching, we will continue to have talented professionals leave medicine long before their time. Until we uncover the ugly truths of professional lynching, society and these victims will miss out on the impact these talented people could have made.

To all of you who have been victims of professional lynching, I feel your pain. I’ve walked in your shoes and stood at the base of the gallows. It’s a soul-sucking, energy-draining experience that tears one apart. It’s unfair, it’s not right, but it’s the unfortunate reality of working with imperfect humans.

Michelle Obama once said, “When they go low, we go high”. So, my fellow colleagues, I encourage all of you to aim high. Trust me, the view from there is better.

Until next week,

Dr. Tomi Mitchell