That if you plan to make a complaint about a senior member of staff, you may have to pay for it with your job, your status and your reputation. You will pay even if your complaint is upheld. And you will inevitably be branded a troublemaker for telling people what's going on in your workplace.

As punishment for telling the truth, McMullin has been told not to have any contact with her students until further notice. Vascular surgeon and co-author of Pathways to Gender Equality –The Role of Merit and Quotas, McMullin said at the launch of her book on Friday that there was a serious level of sexual harassment in hospitals and that it was easier to give in than to pursue perpetrators.

She told the ABC: "What I tell my trainees is that if you are approached for sex, probably the safest thing to do in terms of your career is to comply with the request."

And she told the story of Caroline, a neurosurgical trainee whose career was nearly destroyed because of sexual harassment by her supervisor. The complaint against the supervisor was eventually upheld but Caroline's punishment continues because she has been unable to get work at a public hospital. McMullin's remarks caused a furore – because it looked as if she was saying that if you want to get ahead in surgery, just do it.

None of this will surprise any working woman in Australia. Research from the Australian Human Rights Commission says one in five women is a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace. And that's just the ones who felt comfortable disclosing during the research.

I didn't really get what she was trying to say until I spoke to her on Monday and she stands by her claim – even though it is the exact opposite of the way we want our society to work. But here's the news. McMullin has tried to advocate for women in this situation. She says she's written emails to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and they've been ignored or had banal and clueless responses. She's gone in to bat for women who've been sexually harassed.

But making change in one of the most male professions in Australia is tough, very tough. And it comes down to this. There are only 10 per cent of surgeons in Australia who are women. That's in a profession where more than 50 per cent of the possibles – those people graduating from medical school – are women. What's more concerning is this – the group at the very top of each medical cohort is dominated by women. They are the ones we want opening our gizzards.

But those high-achieving types are just not applying to be surgeons. There are now 25 per cent women in the training program but they aren't graduates yet.

And, in reality, the Royal Australian College of Surgeons is not doing much to change the culture. Since 1994, RACS has said it would offer flexible training for women. Still barely happens. Since 1994, there has been an advisory group in RACS called Women in Surgery. Any influence that group has is by permission alone. WiS is not built into the governance of RACS. It doesn't have any direct power. It's a group of women who mean well but aren't able to operationalise change. It's one thing to have a policy – it's quite another for RACS to have strategies and actions which make surgery a better place for its employees, no matter gender, ethnicity or any other point of difference.

But when I rang RACS on Monday to ask for a comment, guess who got wheeled out to speak. It wasn't the president of RACS, Michael Grigg, who conveniently uploaded his comments on to his website and sent an email to all members of the College.

No, the person who had to take responsibility was Kate Drummond, the deputy chair of WiS.

I asked her what she thought about the role of WiS in the governance of RACS. Now bear in mind that she has to be a cautious type of person if she wants any change, so this is pretty bold.

"I would like our position in the college to be strengthened," she said.

But she didn't exactly call out her male colleagues. She says that there is only a smattering of complaints about sexual harassment among surgeons. When I suggested that might be the case because there is only a smattering of women in surgery, she didn't think that was valid.

But when asked about the Caroline Tan case, she spoke of the case being complex.

In 2012, two papers were published in medical journals underlying the need for a major overhaul of the way specialist training happens in this country. It's the culture that needs overhauling.

One paper, published by Jillian Tomlinson and others in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery, reported: "Barriers exist at the trainee, College, Specialty Board, hospital administration and medical organisational levels."

Another, by Mary Rogers and others published in the Australian Health Review, said nearly three-quarters of those surveyed said they absolutely would not choose surgery because of the training expectations, the lifestyle and the culture of those who already practise surgery.

Women interviewed said they rejected the speciality because of the way in which men dominated it.

You can't change the culture without changing the make-up of the workers.

McMullin made a throwaway comment about blow-jobs, compliance and job security. Not long after, she received an email from a colleague which said he wished he'd known that was her policy.

Bet he thought that was hilarious.

More seriously though, Grigg sent an email to all RACS members on Monday. It said: "The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons shares the concerns of the community that [bullying and harassment] remains in the health sector and occurs between all types of staff at all levels of seniority. Studies have shown that over 50 per cent of Australian junior doctors have been bullied in their clinical attachments."

It's still happening, Professor Grigg. What do you actually plan to do at ground level? What will you do about surgeons who sexually harass? What will do to protect complainants? How will you ask hospitals to respond? Why don't you build Women in Surgery into the governance structures of your College?

You have a lot of influence. Now is the time to use it.

Twitter @jennaprice or email jenna_p@bigpond.net.au