Transparency of Parental Policies and Benefits in Canadian General Surgery Residency Programs

Medical students avoid discussing parenthood during surgical residency interviews due to bias and thus rely on publicly accessible information about parental support. While disparities in parental leave policies are documented in US surgical residency programs, transparency in Canadian programs remains unexplored. This study investigated the transparency of parental benefits and support for general surgery residency applicants in Canada.

Twenty-eight items of transparency (IOT) were identified and tailored for Canadian programs based on previous research. These included maternity or paternity leave, lactation policies, childcare, and primary care coverage. Information was gathered for accredited programs from public platforms of Canadian Resident Matching Service (CaRMS) and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC), supplemented by direct contact with program directors (PD) for missing data. Nonparametric tests and linear regression assessed relationships between transparency and PD gender and program size.

Twenty-three accredited general surgery residency programs across 17 institutions were analyzed. Median transparency score was 19 (IQR: 19-20). All programs disclosed maternity, paternity, and adoption leave policies. About 71% provided lactation rooms and 71% provided onsite childcare. No significant associations were found between transparency and PD gender or number of female residents (p = 0.22, p = 0.48, respectively). Median number of platforms accessed per program was 4 to obtain IOT (range: 3-6).

This study highlights the existence of parental support policies in Canadian surgical residencies but underscores their accessibility challenges. Efforts are needed to centralize and streamline information on these policies to promote equity and inclusivity in surgical training.