“We’re all wound a little different, so I think it falls back to being introspective, knowing ourselves, and not going in blind,” added Dickey. “After all, having a family is supposed to be a happy experience.”
Explore This Issue
March 2017Part 2, which will publish in the April issue of ENTtoday, will look at ways medical practices can accommodate new parents returning to the workplace.
Linda Kossoff is a freelance medical writer based in California.
Parental Leave During Medical Residency
In the era of duty-hour reform and physician burnout awareness, medicine has made important cultural strides towards recognizing the value of maintaining balance between professional and personal life. Additionally, it is impossible to ignore the fact that—much to the perceived disbelief of our predecessors—the joyful and sometimes tragic unpredictability of life is not suspended during residency (or medical school, for that matter).
The medical community has also come to acknowledge the vocational value of life-shaping events. There is general understanding that experiencing loss, overcoming acute illness, and coping with chronic disease are all examples of formative experiences that deepen a physician’s empathy and overall emotional intelligence in delivering patient care. Similarly, the rite of passage into parenthood is associated with uniquely challenging (but amazing) maturation, vulnerability, and perspective that enrich one’s insight as a clinician.
While the logistical challenge of accommodating leaves of absence requires careful planning, residency programs are well-equipped to meet the needs of their trainees, including those individuals choosing to become parents. —Nathan E. Derhammer, MD, program director of the Combined Internal Medicine and Pediatrics Residency Program at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill.
From: AMA J Ethics. 2015;17:116-119.