Parental Leave for the Nonchildbearing General Surgery Resident Parent

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Stigma surrounds parental leave during general surgery residency. During training, 64% of male surgical residents have children. Despite this, the parental leave experience for the nonchildbearing general surgery resident parent is not understood. This study aims to describe this population’s parental leave experiences. METHODS: Current general surgery residents or fellows in the US who had at least 1 child during residency as the nonchildbearing parent were recruited. Using a purposive sampling strategy, semi-structured interviews (n = 18) were conducted via Zoom (August 2021 to January 2022). Interviews lasted approximately 30 minutes and explored participants’ experience with leave policy, timing, structure, motivation/influences for taking leave, career/training impact, and reflection on their experiences. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Participant demographics were analyzed using univariate analysis. RESULTS: Of the 18 participants, there were 27 unique parental leave experiences. Six themes were identified from interviews: program/professional policy; cultural climate; support (institutional and social); parental leave experience; impact; and recommendations. Participants cited needing to rely on informal support (eg assistance of other residents) to arrange leave and feeling compelled not to take the full time allowed to not burden co-residents, or because others took less time. Participants felt taking leave did not negatively impact their education or training. Overall, participants felt dissatisfied with their parental leave experience. CONCLUSION: Cultural change is needed within the general surgery community for parental leave for the nonchildbearing general surgery resident parent to be more widely accepted and supported.