the question is: would you guys (attendings) have dealt with this situation the same way Warfield did? or would you have put the hurt on his old raggedy-a$$?
In all seriousness, the guy would not have treated a male colleague like this. He's a member of the old skool, good 'ole boys network who probably could never comprehend or relish the idea of a woman not pregnant, with shoes on, and out of the house let alone working as a "colleague" with an equal medical degree. Couple that with the general disdain that some surgeons have for anesthesiologists... that we generally should - like a high priced escort - show up, speak only when spoken to, and simply exist only to make them look good... well, you have a recipe for disaster.
I know a lot of women (whom I imagine) are like Warfield. Some are surgeons that I've worked with. Some are anesthesiology attendings I've worked under. They've worked very hard to get where they are, yet they still feel they don't get the respect that's due to them because they are a woman. Sometimes this is true, and sometimes it's not. Sometimes they get treated badly professionally by a few men, and they then carry a huge chip on their shoulder from there on out. These are usually the ones that people generally recognize as "the b!tch" (the counter to the a$$hole, the moniker reserved for men like Fischer).
I think this is just probably a case of two very large personalities colliding. And, I'm sure that it will get settled out of court. Noone wants this story to mushroom, not the least of whom is BID.
But, I'm again and again completely crestfallen and feel diminished as a professional to see this kind of sad in-fighting going on, even in the hallowed halls of Harvard. I can't say this enough: until we can get together and start treating each other with respect and collegiality - recognizing that we are all in this together - you will continue to see a lack of cohesiveness in our profession, a malignant territorialism if you will, that will be preyed upon by insurance companies and plaintiff's attorney. This kind of bullsh*t going on at Harvard proves, if anything, that we as a group of highly intelligent and passionate professionals are our own worst enemies.
Take that to the bank. Pravda.
-copro