137 - Parent-In-Training: Resident and Fellow Experiences from Pregnancy to Parenthood

Poster Number: 137
Publication Number: 137.217

Eleanor A. Sharp, UPMC Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, PITTSBURGH, PA, United States; Kristina J. Nicholson, UPMC, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Daniel H. Glaser, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, United States; Blake Gibson, UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital, Pittsburgh, PA, United States; Maia Taft, UPMC Childrens Hospital of Pittsburgh, Aspinwall, PA, United States; Traci M. Kazmerski, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

Background: Achieving work-life integration for physician parents is challenging. Parents in graduate medical training have additional stressors of unpredictable work hours, inflexible schedules, financial obligations, and competitive job markets. Although high parental stress levels have been shown to negatively impact the parent-child relationship, there is a paucity of data on parental stress during medical training.

Objective: Investigate the experiences and concerns of physician trainees and identify factors associated with higher parental stress.

Design/Methods: We distributed an anonymous, web-based survey to residents and fellows in medical and procedural specialties across a single academic institution in May 2021 to assess experiences related to parental leave, breastfeeding, and childcare. We used the Parental Stress Scale (PSS), a validated instrument that assesses stress related to the parenting role, to identify factors associated with increased stress. Higher relative PSS scores indicate increased relative stress. We analyzed results using descriptive statistics and linear regression.

Results: 509 respondents (30% response rate) participated, 50% were parents (Table 1). Mean PSS score was 44.3±12.4 with no significant difference between males and females (43.1 vs 44.9, p=0.38). Over one-third of females reported that they anticipate being required to extend training due to parental leave (36% vs 13% males, p=0.009). Breastfeeding was associated with significantly higher PSS scores (46.7 vs 38.3, p=0.017). Nearly one in four breastfeeding parents (22/93) felt their program and/or institution did not support their breastfeeding goals at all; lack of perceived support for breastfeeding was associated with significantly higher PSS scores (63.6 vs 38.6, p< 0.001) (Figure 1). One-third of respondents (152/470) said the cost of childcare affected the number of children they plan to have, while almost half (210/470) reported it affected when they plan to have children (Table 2). Forty percent (64/159) reported changing their career plans after becoming parents; these respondents had significantly higher PSS scores (52.4 vs. 40.7, p< .001). Of 238 trainees without children, 64% (152) agreed or strongly agreed they could not imagine having children during training and 66% (156) want to wait to start a family until after their training.Conclusion(s): Physician trainee parents experience high stress levels, with females bearing disproportionate burdens in the domains of parental leave and breastfeeding. These results should inform institutional policies to promote trainee wellness and gender equity.
Eleanor Sharp CV for Award ConsiderationEleanor Sharp_CV_November 2021.pdf
Table 2: Parenthood Perspectives and Characteristics