During the Wellness Symposium at ARRS 2026, Sherry S. Wang, MBBS, from the University of Cincinnati shared her own, hard-won framework for identifying and navigating toxic professional environments.
Working Definition: A toxic workplace is defined by poor leadership, lack of transparency, unreasonable work volumes, and a culture of fear or retaliation. Because these factors can directly erode a rad’s confidence and performance right there at the workstation, addressing them is a professional necessity.
Dr. Wang’s 5-Step Manual:
- Pattern Recognition—Differentiate between a one-time misunderstanding and repeated patterns of toxic behavior.
- People vs. Process—Determine if you are facing a people problem or a process problem, then assess if the organization is actually open to change.
- To Engage or Nah? Evaluate if the issue is worth the effort to fix and whether you can effectively protect yourself from retaliation.
- Writing & Speaking—If you feel safe, present documented evidence of the behavior to leadership. [N.B. If you’re too afraid to do so, you likely already have your answer.]
- Plan B, Always—Having an exit strategy is a courageous act of self-preservation. If you decide to leave, do so cordially, but prepare for potential retaliation during your notice period.
Maybe It’s Me? Toxicity isn’t just an HR issue; it eats away at our wellbeing, impacting a rad’s sensitivity and specificity alike. And since we all contribute to institutional culture—be it a primary instigator or simply as silent bystanders who allow toxicity to persist—Dr. Wang challenged us to keep looking inward.
Bottom Line: Merely surviving your reading room shift is no longer enough. Going forward, the goal should be detoxing our workplaces to make them that much more productive for each and every rad.
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