© Alan Poulson Photography / shutterStock.com
Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series examining the ways physicians prepare for and manage parental leave.
Explore this issue:
March 2017It’s logical to conclude that medical personnel enjoy the gold standard in employee healthcare benefits. That can be a risky assumption, however, especially for residents in their childbearing years. It isn’t unusual for young physicians planning a family to discover—sometimes too late—that their health benefits fall short of the minimum guidelines recommended by the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to ensure a healthy pregnancy (available at acog.org).
Other countries provide more benefits than the United States (see “Paid Parental Leave by Country”). This is especially true with maternity leave, as many healthcare employers have struggled to keep up with the growing status of women in the medical community.