The Use of Parenting Electives in Pediatric Residency.

Abstract

Financial considerations and the desire to not prolong training often influence residents' parental leave length. Some residencies offer parenting electives. These primarily self-directed electives can extend parental time at home, support transition back to work, and allow residents to remain in training and be paid during these transitions. Describe the prevalence and structure of parenting electives within pediatric residency programs from 3 geographic regions of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD). All 66 pediatric residency program directors in the Western, Mid-America, and Northeastern regions of APPD were invited to participate in a phone interview regarding existence of and structure of their programs' parenting elective. Thirty-six programs responded (55%). Of those, 24 (67% of responding programs) offer a specific parenting elective and an additional 5 (14%) offer a generic elective that can be tailored to new parents. Curricular elements shared by almost all programs offering specific parenting electives include self-reflective exercises, exploration of a community resource, and parenting articles/book review. Most programs incorporate clinic but not call into these electives. Parenting electives are increasingly available in pediatric residency programs to support new resident parents. Sharing common curricular elements may help other programs implement and/or enhance this elective offering.