Exploring Caregiver and Parental Roles as Radiation Oncologists in Canada

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<h3>Purpose/Objective(s)</h3> Caregiving and parental responsibilities present multiple challenges for physicians including personal, family, professional, and financial. Our objective was to describe the experiences of Canadian radiation oncologists (RO) with caregiving/parental roles and to illustrate challenges that exist, whilst dealing with professional work. <h3>Materials/Methods</h3> An online survey was administered (November – January 2022) to registered staff RO members of the Canadian Association of Radiation Oncology (CARO). The survey consisted of 57 multiple choice and 7 open-ended questions on demographics, parental and other family caregiver roles. Descriptive statistics summarized survey responses and thematic analysis was used to analyze open-ended questions. Qualitative data was analyzed using SAS with Chi-square and Wilcoxon rank sum tests, a two-sided p-value of <0.05 was deemed statistically significant (SS). <h3>Results</h3> Of the 271 CARO members, 103 staff RO responded (38%): 45% female and 55% male. Most participants were <50 years old (78, 76%), Canadian MD graduates (75, 73%) with <15-years of practice (76, 74%). The majority (76%) of respondents identified as having a parental and/or non-parental caregiving role (8%). There was no difference between respondents' gender and number of children (median 2 (range: 1-4), p=0.5). A SS higher proportion of females compared to males took parental leave for each pregnancy, with more females (71%) receiving financial support (employment insurance, employer contribution and/or paid vacation) compared to males (44%) for the 1^st and 2^nd parental leave only. Median duration of parental leave by female's vs males for 1^st and 2^nd child was 26 vs 4 weeks and 22 vs 4 weeks. Half of female respondents (52%) identified as having a positive parent mentor at work compared to 26% of male respondents (p=0.02). A higher proportion of females described having a child negatively impacted their career (50% vs 28%, p=0.06) with similar gender proportions describing attendance at conferences (77% vs 65%, p=0.3) and early/late work meetings (79% vs 76%, p=0.7) affected by having children. Respondents described balancing work-life, dealing with sudden illness of children and bringing children to pre- and post-school activities as examples of daily challenges experienced. Few respondents (8%; 4 females, 4 male) identified having a non-parental caregiving role, with 6 (75%) having both dependent child and adult caregiving roles. Challenges identified in caring for an older adult included taking time off during work hours to attend medical appointments, older adult being unable to drive, and ongoing medical concerns. <h3>Conclusion</h3> Caregiving and parental responsibilities are not gender unique, but competing work and family roles may impact genders differently. Further studies to understand the gender differences and to determine strategies to support and address ongoing challenges of RO's balancing career and family caregiving demands are required.