Work/life balance issues for female physicians and implications for medical education /

Abstract

Work/life balance issues exist for all people who navigate both professional and personal responsibilities, regardless of profession, gender, marital status, or number of children. This research sought to better understand the specific work/life balance challenges faced by female physicians and how medical education can better prepare future physicians for such challenges at all levels of their professional career. Specifically, this researched examined how female physicians manage work/life balance issues, how these issues are perceived to be different from those of male physicians, how medical education and training prepares women for these issues, and future realistic programmatic ideas for medical education and training to adopt in order to prepare physicians for work/life balance challenges. This study used a mixed methods approach, by way of surveys and interviews with practicing female physicians from two osteopathic medical schools in the southwestern United States. This research found that female physicians struggle with competing time commitments, including balancing family and domestic responsibilities with professional obligations, and that high levels of guilt and stress are associated with those struggles. Female physicians experience work/life balance issues differently than their male peers due to social role pressures, gender-based discrimination, and often unfair maternity or family leave expectations. Many cope with these struggles by setting firm boundaries, practicing self-care, and seeking workplace and family support. These findings lead to recommendations of building support and social networks in medical school through formal groups or organizations, mentoring programs, and intentional conversations with other physicians and recommending to continue seeking these kinds of support networks throughout their career.