Physician Work Patterns in Pregnancy, Parental Leave, and Return to the Workforce

Area of Science:

• Medical culture
• Physician workload management
• Parental leave policies

Background:

• Pregnancy and parental leave are inadequately supported within medical culture.
• Physician workload adjustments around childbirth are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the work patterns of physicians before, during, and after pregnancy.
• To analyze these patterns across different medical specialties.

Main Methods:

• A population-based retrospective cohort study of Ontario physicians (2002-2018).
• Physician billing claims were used to track work activity (days and nights worked).
• Negative binomial regression and survival analysis were employed to analyze data.

Main Results:

• Physician workload increased in early pregnancy but decreased in the third trimester.
• Overnight work decreased during pregnancy, particularly in the third trimester.
• Surgeons had the earliest median return to work (133 days) after childbirth.

Conclusions:

• Physicians may frontload work in early pregnancy, potentially for financial reasons.
• Significant variations in leave patterns across specialties indicate inequities in support systems.
• Equitable parental leave policies are crucial for advancing gender equity in medicine.