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Educational Impact of Parental Leave for the Nonchildbearing General Surgery Resident Parent: A Qualitative Analysis
Sarah M Kling1, Melody J Slashinski2, Rebecca L Green1
1Department of Surgery, Temple University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Background/Objective:
During general surgery residency, 32% to 64% of male residents have children. Despite this, the parental leave experience for the nonchildbearing general surgery resident parent is not understood. Concerns have been expressed that parental leave negatively impacts resident training and careers. However, multiple studies have shown that residents with children do not report fewer operative case numbers, lower board examination pass rates, lower in-service examination scores, differences in academic productivity, or pursuance of fellowship training. This study aims to describe educational and career impacts from parental leave and parenthood as perceived by the nonchildbearing resident parent.
Design/Setting/Participants:
Zoom interviews (n = 20) were conducted (August 2021-March 2022) with current general surgery residents or fellows in the United States who had at least one child during residency as the nonchildbearing parent. Interviews explored participants' experiences with impacts on training/education, career paths, and career satisfaction. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Univariate analysis was used to analyze participant demographics.
Results:
All twenty were males with female partners who gave birth. Participants felt taking parental leave did not negatively impact their education or training, regardless of when they had children (research or clinical time). However, fear of potential negative consequences influenced many to take a shorter duration of leave; only 25% were satisfied with their duration of leave while 45% took leave using vacation time. Impacts on career path and career satisfaction were variable among participants.
Conclusions:
Overall nonchildbearing general surgery resident parents do not perceive a negative impact on their education due to parental leave or parenthood. The majority of residents were not satisfied with their duration of leave. Optimal duration of parental leave for residents to be satisfied without a negative impact on their education remains unknown.
