The parent penalty: Parental leave and return to work in trainees and early-career faculty in oncology.

Abstract

11005 Background: Prime childbearing years occur during medical training and early career, leaving physicians with tough choices between family planning and career growth. Restrictive parental leave (PL) policies can affect physician well-being and limit decisions about reproduction. We evaluated Medical and Radiation Oncology trainees and early career faculty to assess policies and practices regarding PL and return to work. Methods: An anonymous 48 question cross-sectional survey developed by researchers with expertise in gender equity was distributed via email and social media channels between May and June 2021 to oncology trainees and physicians within 5 years of terminal training. Descriptive statistics were used to compare study groups. Results: 255 physicians completed the survey- 54% female, 65% Medical Oncology and 35% Radiation Oncology, 71% trainees and 29% early career faculty. 46% (117) had no formal PL policy during training. PL impacted selection of first job for 37% (94) participants. Of all responders, 114 used PL, either in early career (18%), as a trainee (69%) or both (13%). Duration of PL during training was ≤4 weeks in 37%, 4-6 weeks in 19%, 6-8 weeks in 12% and ≥8 weeks in 24%. 27% of those who took PL as a trainee had to extend training to allow for this. Only 27%(31) of those who took PL had resources available at workplace to assist with transitioning back to work, primarily from informal mentoring by faculty/colleagues (65%, 20). Other important findings are summarized in the Table. Conclusions: In this study evaluating parental leave in oncology trainees and early faculty, almost half of the participants had no formal parental leave policy during training and majority of those who took parental leave during training had parental leave only for 6 weeks or less. Most participants experienced a parental leave penalty: guilt when seeking help and feeling overwhelmed at return to work. Policies and practices around parental leave need to be restructured to meet the needs of the evolving oncology workforce. [Table: see text]