Barriers to Parental Leave During Training: Time for Change

Abstract

Background Standardized parental leave policies for medical trainees are lacking, and barriers may differ among specialties. We aimed to characterize experiences of physicians who became parents during training and to identify particular issues for surgical trainees compared to their non-surgical peers. Methods We distributed an electronic survey to physician parents via social media platforms from 10/2019 to 02/2020. Inclusion required becoming a parent during training. Responses were collected and standard descriptive and comparative analyses were performed. Results Surveys were received from 64 physicians representing diverse specialties: 48 (74%) non-surgical respondents (NSR) and 16 (26%) surgical respondents (SR). Among all respondents, 25 (39%) reported a formal institutional policy for parental leave and 49 (76%) wished for more time off. Overall, respondents took a mean of 7.5 ± 5.2 (range 0-14) weeks of parental leave. However, NSR took 8.7 ± 5.8 weeks, while SR took 4.7 ± 2.7 ( P = .006). Reported barriers to parental leave across specialties included graduation requirements (NSR 58% vs. SR 68% P = .46), peer pressure/perception (NSR 59% vs. SR 58% P = .97), and pressure from institutional leadership (NSR 31% vs. SR 35% P = .77). A substantial portion (28, 43%) of respondents had additional children during training, taking less time off for the second child (5.1 ± 7.4 weeks; 0-12). Conclusion A minority of respondents reported formal institutional parental leave policies, while an overwhelming majority felt that their time off was inadequate. Surgical trainees took shorter parental leaves than their non-surgical counterparts. Cultural and professional changes are crucial in promoting wellness and healthy transitions into parenthood.

Perceptions of Parental Leave Among Ophthalmologists

“…hile the challenges of navigating parental leave in residency are represented in the literature, [1][2][3][4][5] the challenges experienced by posttraining physicians, including ophthalmologists, need to be more fully explored. Posttraining physicians are affected by a unique subset of concerns and policies relating to parental leave.…”