April 14, 2010
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A new study by researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) shows that female medical residents are more likely than their male counterparts to delay having children for fear of jeopardizing their career.
The study, published in the April issue of Academic Medicine, surveyed 424 internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics, medicine-pediatrics, surgery and obstetrics/gynecology residents from 11 residency programs at three academic medical institutions about their intentions to have children during residency. The study was designed to assess gender differences among the residents regarding their plans and determine the most influential reasons for these differences.
"We found that women residents, significantly more than their male counterparts, plan to delay childbearing until their residency is complete," said the study's lead author Lisa Willett, M.D., associate professor of medicine and associate director of the internal medicine residency program in the UAB Division of General Internal Medicine. "And we were able to find that their reasons for postponement were related to what they perceived as threats to their career."
Willett said previous studies have reported several career concerns that female residents have toward pregnancy, but no studies included a validated instrument that identified and measured specific concerns. This study included measurements for four career threats -extended training, loss of fellowship positions, pregnancy complications and interference with career plans.
Willett said 41 percent of men versus 27 percent of women who responded to the survey planned to have children during residency. The women surveyed reported that they perceived if they had children during their residency they would be extending their training (47 percent of women versus 19 percent of men); potentially losing fellowships for further training opportunities (21 percent of women versus 10 percent of men); be at greater risk from impacts of pregnancy complications (38 percent of women versus 9 percent of men); and overall it might jeopardize some of their career goals (43 percent of women versus 25 percent of men).
Willett said the research is important because the percentage and number of women in medical residencies is on the rise. In the past decade, there has been an almost 10 percent increase in female residents, up to 45 percent in 2009 from 36 percent in 1998. Work-hour limitations allow residents more personal time to devote to parenting, and residency training coincides with crucial childbearing ages for women. By postponing pregnancy, women may unknowingly be sacrificing their desire for children for that of their careers.
"There's a general perception, I think, that women who choose careers like medicine may not want the same families as other people, that they may not want children," said study co-author Melissa Wellons, M.D., a fellow in the UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism. "And that perception did not match what I was seeing in my professional friends, people in their 30s having difficulty building their families."
Wellons said the findings of the study demonstrate significant gender differences for residents in their plans for having children during residency. Women residents are intentionally postponing pregnancy due to perceived career threats, specifically extended training. And, the findings regarding perceived threats are the most powerful of the dimensions that determine likely action. She said female residents should be cognizant of the choices and potential sacrifices they are making for their career or family goals and those involved in medical education need to be aware of these important findings, especially when counseling female students and residents.
"We're hopeful others will use the instrument we developed to further study residents and other groups regarding their family building plans. We need more research on this topic," Wellons said.
About the UAB Division of General Internal Medicine
The UAB Division of General Internal Medicine is committed to providing outstanding clinical service to its patients and to the community, exceptional medical education for medical students, residents, and other health professionals and innovative research to expand the frontiers of biomedical knowledge and clinical practice.
About the UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism
The UAB Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism has a multi-faceted mission that includes state-of-the-art clinical care for a variety of disorders of the endocrine system, clinical and basic endocrine investigation plus the education of medical students, graduate students, residents and postdoctoral fellows.