Barriers to Parental Leave During Training: Time for Change
Ian C Bostock1, Erin M Bayley1, Mara B Antonoff1
1461926The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
The American Surgeon
|July 12, 2021
Summary
Physicians taking parental leave during training often lack formal policies and adequate time off. Surgical trainees reported significantly shorter leaves than non-surgical peers, highlighting a need for systemic change.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Physician Wellness
- Parental Leave Policies
Background:
- Standardized parental leave policies for medical trainees are inconsistent.
- Barriers to parental leave access may vary significantly across medical specialties.
- Physician parents during training face unique challenges transitioning to parenthood.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the parental leave experiences of physicians during medical training.
- To identify specific challenges faced by surgical trainees compared to non-surgical trainees regarding parental leave.
- To assess the adequacy of current parental leave provisions and identify areas for improvement.
Main Methods:
- An electronic survey was distributed to physician parents who had children during their training.
- Data collection occurred between October 2019 and February 2020 via social media platforms.
- Descriptive and comparative statistical analyses were performed on the collected survey responses.
Main Results:
- Only 39% of surveyed physicians reported formal institutional parental leave policies.
- Physicians took an average of 7.5 weeks of parental leave, with surgical trainees taking significantly less time (4.7 weeks) than non-surgical trainees (8.7 weeks).
- Common barriers included graduation requirements, peer pressure, and institutional leadership pressure; 76% desired more leave time.
Conclusions:
- A significant gap exists between the parental leave provided and the time physicians feel is adequate.
- Surgical trainees experience shorter parental leaves, indicating a disparity in support compared to non-surgical trainees.
- Cultural and professional adjustments are necessary to support physician wellness and the transition to parenthood.
More Related Videos
05:21Author Spotlight: Training of Laboratory Animals for Gentle and Stress-Free Handling
Published on: February 16, 2024
3.0K
09:51Model Surgical Training: Skills Acquisition in Fetoscopic Laser Photocoagulation of Monochorionic Diamniotic Twin Placenta Using Realistic Simulators
Published on: March 21, 2018
19.9K
Related Concept Videos
01:21Barriers to Effective Communication II
4.2K
The barriers to effective communication also include cultural barriers, semantic barriers, gender barriers, and time constraints.
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
4.2K
00:55Parental Care
12.0K
Many animals exhibit parental care behavior, including feeding, grooming, and protecting young offspring. Parental care is universal in mammals and birds, which often have young that are born relatively helpless. Several species of insects and fish, as well as some amphibians, also care for their young.
12.0K
01:28Current Trends in Nursing I
1.9K
Current trends in nursing include:
1.9K
01:30Barriers to Effective Communication I
10.4K
A communication barrier is any distortion or interruption during a conversation, resulting in miscommunication of the message. A good communicator should know these barriers and continuously check for the listener's understanding by obtaining feedback.
Communication barriers include the following:
Physiological barriers: They are limitations caused by a person's health condition or disability, such as hearing loss, poor eyesight, illness, or unconsciousness. An example to overcome this...
Communication barriers include the following:
Physiological barriers: They are limitations caused by a person's health condition or disability, such as hearing loss, poor eyesight, illness, or unconsciousness. An example to overcome this...
10.4K
01:27Parenting Styles
244
Diana Baumrind's four parenting styles — authoritarian, authoritative, neglectful, and permissive — each influence children's socio-emotional development differently.
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative...
Authoritarian Parenting
This style is strict and controlling, with little room for open dialogue. Authoritarian parents demand obedience and often enforce rules with minimal warmth. Children raised this way may lack social skills and initiative, usually comparing themselves to others unfavorably.
Authoritative...
244
01:28Relationship with Parents: Attachment
61
Parent-child interactions lay the foundation for how we understand relationships throughout life. These interactions are not uniform across families; instead, they are shaped by a range of environmental, emotional, and behavioral factors unique to each caregiver-child dynamic. Social psychologists study these early relationships to understand how patterns formed in infancy influence social functioning and interpersonal behavior in adulthood.Attachment Theory and Early Relational ModelsJohn...
61