Elections PEACE: reconciliation gains weight

Doctors are detained motherhood in relation to other professions. In addition, due to having children at a later age, they experience higher levels of complications of pregnancy. A recently published analysis assesses medical students’ views on Family planning and how these goals may influence the choice speciality. The findings reflect that students feel that such planning is not adequately supported in their medical careers, particularly during training. Specialties related to surgical activity They offer “less support” for having children.

This is one of the conclusions that can be seen from the analysis published a few weeks ago Jama Surgery. “Surgery in particular is considered a specialty for which in general family planning was not encouraged for both men and women. “Students who were motivated to commit to raising a family were more likely to choose a specialty and program that they felt was more aligned with their goals,” said the study, which included 34 fourth-year medical students. University of Toronto.

In addition to this idea, other “realities” that these students experienced that confirm the lack of support were also brought forward. One of them is that There is no ideal time to start a family. in a medical career. Participants stated that their choice to study this degree represented a delay in said planning compared to peers in other academic fields.

Factors that have been taken into account are the availability Holiday to care for the child, returning to work when you have a baby, work-life balancefinancial stability, the structure of medical training (with the resulting financial burden), and the physical demands of pregnancy and childcare as a significant source of stress that must be balanced with professional development.

Family planning is a taboo topic in the profession

But it’s not just that there is no ideal time to start a family, but that planning one in itself is a difficult task.Taboo topic”because they believe that the current medical culture “discourages” open discussion on the topic.

“Ideas about family planning and the compatibility of family building with a medical career were formed thanks to informal discussions began mentors or trained during internships under the guidance of professors and residents,” the analysis details. Additionally, participants explain that while it is up to them to find information to position themselves on the topic, they feel they must ask questions carefully. , because they are worried about how the desire to have children will be perceived during education and that their reputation “could be at risk” if they addressed these issues.

The fourth and final point is related to this last argument: it can be seen that students who have children are burden on the medical system and contribute to the fatigue of their colleagues. “The overall message students heard was that having children during residency disrupts the structure of the training program and that peers are not, and perhaps should not be, supportive,” the study states.

Interventions aimed at creating debate about family formation

This analysis not only focuses on the opinions of these students who studied various majors at a Canadian university, such as Gynecology or Family medicinebut propose two initial interventions that address the need to discuss family formation during medical training.

The first point they emphasize is that open debate on family planning within the degree and support of establishment should be included in medical curricula and continue during residency in all specialties.

In addition, efforts are needed to improve culture through innovative interventions who support team dynamics and workload when the student is on parental leave.