Parental Leave Policies and Practices of US Family Medicine Residency Programs

Wendling, Andrea; Paladine, Heather L.; Hustedde, Carol; Kovar-Gough, Iris; Tarn, Derjung M.; Phillips, Julie

doi:10.22454/fammed.2019.773836

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…The known benefits of paid parental leave include decreased infant mortality, improved physical and mental health for mother and infant, increased maternal participation in the labor force, and enhanced morale of parents [ 7 – 10 ]. However, parental leave policies vary widely between institutions [ 11 ]. In an analysis of the top 50 medical schools with affiliated GME programs, 42% had paid leave policies for residents and fellows (average duration, 5.1 weeks), 42% did not provide any paid leave, and 22% offered state-mandated, partially paid leave [ 12 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental leave policy information during residency interviews

et al. 2021

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Background During interviews, medical students may feel uncomfortable asking questions that might be important to them, such as parental leave. Parental leave policies may be difficult for applicants to access without asking the program director or other interviewers. The goal of this study is to evaluate whether parental leave information is presented to prospective residents and whether medical students want this information. Methods Fifty-two program directors (PD’s) at 3 sites of a single institution received a survey in 2019 to identify whether parental leave information is presented at residency interviews. Medical students received a separate survey in 2020 to identify their preferences. Fisher exact tests, Pearson χ2 tests and Cochran-Armitage tests were used where appropriate to assess for differences in responses. Results Of the 52 PD’s, 27 responded (52%) and 19 (70%) indicated that information on parental leave was not provided to candidates. The most common reason cited was the belief that the information was not relevant (n = 7; 37%). Of the 373 medical students, 179 responded (48%). Most respondents (92%) wanted parental leave information formally presented, and many anticipated they would feel extremely or somewhat uncomfortable (68%) asking about parental leave. The majority (61%) felt that these policies would impact ranking of programs “somewhat” or “very much.” Conclusions Parental leave policies may not be readily available to interviewees despite strong interest and their impact on ranking of programs by prospective residents.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental leave policy information during residency interviews

et al. 2021

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“…Resident physicians, who have fatiguing work schedules, often have minimal paid maternity or paternity leave and would benefit from supportive return-to-work programs and policies. [112][113][114][115] Similar issues exist in veterinary residency programs. 116 It is important to support the needs of working parents, particularly during the post-partum and infancy stage, when working parents may be more sleep-deprived.…”

Section: Technologiesmentioning

confidence: 89%

“…Research could investigate the impact of maternity and paternity leave policies on workers’ health and safety. Resident physicians, who have fatiguing work schedules, often have minimal paid maternity or paternity leave and would benefit from supportive return‐to‐work programs and policies 112–115 . Similar issues exist in veterinary residency programs 116 .…”

Section: Research Prioritiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Research priorities to reduce risks from work hours and fatigue in the healthcare and social assistance sector

Caruso

Arbour

Berger

et al. 2022

American J Industrial Med

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Background The services of Healthcare and Social Assistance (HCSA) workers are needed by society around the clock. As a result, these workers are exposed to shift work and long work hours. The combination of demanding work schedules and other hazards in the HCSA work environment increases the health and safety risks to these workers, as well as to their patients/clients and the public. Methods This paper has three aims: (1) provide an overview of the burden of shift work, long hours, and related sleep and fatigue problems in this sector; (2) suggest research priorities that would improve these; and (3) discuss potential positive impacts of addressing these research priorities for the health and safety of workers and the public. The authors used a modified Delphi approach to anonymously rank‐order priorities for improving HCSA worker health and safety and public safety. Input was also obtained from attendees at the 2019 National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Work Hours, Sleep, and Fatigue Forum. Results The highest rated research priorities were developing better designs for work schedules, and improving the HCSA culture and leadership approaches to shift work and long work hours. Additional priorities are identified. Conclusion Research in these priority areas has the potential to benefit HCSA workers as well as their patients/clients, employers, and society.

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“…[10][11][12][13] Studies specific to medical residents have found a lack of uniform policies regarding parental leave with regard to funding and also clinical coverage for new parents across several specialty training programs including surgery, OB-GYN, family medicine, and dermatology. [14][15][16][17] Trainees often report a perception of stigma and a lack of support for prospective and new parents, both by other trainees and by faculty. 18,19 Larger studies of parental leave policies across multiple specialties and institutions have similarly described a lack of standardized/formal GME parental leave policy across specialties and lack of specific references about the impact of parental leave on clinical training (length and eligibility for specialty boards).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parental health in fellowship trainees: Fellows’ satisfaction with current policies and interest in innovation

Marshall

Dines

Hendrickson

et al. 2020

Womens Health (Lond Engl)

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Background: Parenthood during medical training is common and impacts trainee well-being. However, current graduate medical education parental health policies are often limited in scope. We explored current fellowship trainees’ knowledge of/satisfaction with current policies as well as interest in potential changes/additions to existing policies. Methods: Fellowship program directors/coordinators at a three-site academic institution were surveyed and information was collected from 2015 to 2019 regarding fellow demographics and parental health policies. We distributed an electronic survey to fellows containing Likert-type-scale questions rating knowledge/level of satisfaction with current parental health policies and interest in potential additions/modifications to current policies. Results: Thirty-five of 47 (74%) fellowship programs responded. An average of 11% of female fellows and 15% of male fellows took parental leave during the study period. Three (9%) of the programs had at least one additional parental health policy beyond institutional graduate medical education policies. In the fellow survey, 175 of 609 fellows responded (28.7%), of which 84 (48.6%) were female. Although 89.1% agreed/strongly agreed that parental health is an important part of health and well-being for fellows, only 32% were satisfied/very satisfied with current policies (no significant sex-related differences). Fellows reported the following potential interventions as important/very important: 79.2% increased (paid) maternity leave (72.7% male, 86.7% female, p = 0.02), 78% increased (paid) paternity leave (76.4% male, 81.9% female, p = 0.37), 72.3% part-time return to work (60.2% male, 84.3% female, p = 0.0005), 63% coverage for workup/management of infertility (52.3% male, 74.7% female, p = 0.002), and 79.9% on-site day care (70.7% male, 89.2% female, p = 0.003). Conclusions: Parental health includes multiple domains, not all of which are covered by current policies. Fellows feel that parental health is an important part of overall health and well-being, but most are not satisfied with current policies. Expanded access to parental leave and new policies (part-time return to work, infertility management, and on-site day care) are opportunities for innovation.

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Parental Leave Policies and Practices of US Family Medicine Residency Programs

Cited by 13 publications

References 23 publications

Parental leave policy information during residency interviews

Parental leave policy information during residency interviews

Research priorities to reduce risks from work hours and fatigue in the healthcare and social assistance sector

Parental health in fellowship trainees: Fellows’ satisfaction with current policies and interest in innovation

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