Dear Silkysplinter, I hear your comments about bullying during placements etc and I can sympathise.
From the comments you have made I gather these "bullies" are amongst the clinical supervisors and educators within hospitals.
If I remind myself of my own times at the effect of physio clinical bullies I can easily transport myself to a time when I felt crushed, unsupported, victimised and hurt. When I was a student in the early eighties I studied in a leading Australian Institute where the majority of students and educators were female. As a mature ( 28) tall male with confidence, I often found myself at the effect of similarly aged female tutors etc , who were somewhat intimidated by me.
At other times I felt the wrath of supervisors who seemed genuinely perplexed that I had the temerity to question the methods, ethics, approaches and cuddly sycophancy that seemed to me to be worthy of inquiry.
These people are delicate Silky, their minds and hearts are just as easily tormented as yours, it is just that they are in a position to mete out retribution to those who seem vulnerable, including you.
You could retaliate directly and take him/her aside for a concise exhortation of the folly of such behaviour , with a reminder that you are in need of their support , astonished at the lack of sensitivity, maturity and seemly behaviour.
You may then experience the cold wall of reality descend on you, sentencing yourself to a period of further , but more intense and more worrying attention from those who have power over your career.
Your best bet is to be as the Mongolians describe as " mountain face". Solid, timeless, inscrutable, unaffected by the moment by moment variables , focussed on the result.
You can and will overcome these tortures by the reminder that bullying by these miserable failed individuals is an indication of their pain , sense of failure and lowly position. If you are singled out, then you must be noteworthy.
Success is the best revenge. Soak it up as part of the right of passage into professional life. One day, with perseverance tenacity and courage , you may find yourself interviewing one of these weaklings , for a position you can provide.
Schadenfreude may yet even out the score.