Family Leave for Family Residency Residents: Time for a Way Forward, from ABFM & AFMRD

Female resident to fellow classmates: “I wanted to let you know that I am pregnant… and I am sorry.” Restrictive residency training program policies and culture regarding Parental and Family Leave are common and have not changed significantly over time.1 Residents who have children during residency continue to face barriers to receiving adequate time away to care for themselves and their newborns. New parents often still face negative cultural biases related to the perceived impact on their education, clinical work, and sharing of workload among colleagues.2,3 While family leave in residency training was historically utilized for birth mothers, it has in recent years begun to be considered for fathers and other non-birth parents. Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs nationwide will see an increase in the number of residents requesting Parental and Family Leave, especially with women now comprising more than 50% of medical school graduates, and with shifting cultural norms toward diversity of parenting roles and family structures.