Part-Time Work Is Key to Retaining Female Doctors, Journal Concludes

The Chronicle of Higher Education
January 2, 2009

Women will continue to drop out of academic medical careers unless medical schools and teaching hospitals create more part-time and family-friendly work schedules, according to a series of articles in the January issue of Academic Medicine, the journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges.
At a time when women make up nearly half of new physicians, concern is mounting over what some refer to as a leaking pipeline. Many women are either shying away from academic medicine or dropping out when the demands of juggling families and full-time careers are too great.
But female physicians aren’t the only ones who are opting for jobs today that allow them more time for families and personal interests. Work-life balance has become a primary consideration for a growing number of younger physicians in recent years, and a reason many have been shunning time-intensive careers in primary medicine.
The articles examine how female, part-time doctors and their male, full-time division chiefs view part-time work in academic medicine. They also look at obstacles women face in academic medicine, particularly when working part time.

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