The Fine Print: Pregnancy and Parental Leave Policies

In this episode, the host, Amanda Quijano and guest Julie, a pediatric emergency medicine attending and first author on a recent Academic Emergency Medicine study, discuss a national survey of pediatric emergency medicine fellowship program directors on pregnancy accommodations and parental leave policies: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41948123/

Their discussion highlights major variability in these policies across programs, frequent lack of written and formal policies, and reliance on informal culture and program director discretion, which can leave trainees confused and hesitant to advocate for themselves.

Key issues discussed include limited leave, common requirements for “makeup shifts”, inconsistent knowledge and use of available training waivers, and inadequate pregnancy accommodations for infectious exposures, radiation, and overnight/hazard work hours.

The discussions of both this episode - and the study - argue for standardized, accessible options and better support for expectant and new parents in PEM fellowship and more broadly in all of medical training.