Parental benefits during cardiology training vary across institutions

Institutions differ considerably in their parental benefits and policies among cardiovascular training programs internationally, which underscores disparities in real-world experiences, reveals a study.

In this study, the investigators sent an internet-based international survey via social media and was available from August 2020 to October 2020. The survey was administered one time and anonymously. Respondents shared experiences on parental benefits/policies and perception of barriers for trainees.

The investigators then divided the participants into three groups: training program directors, trainees pregnant during cardiology fellowship, and trainees not pregnant during training.

Overall, 417 responses were obtained from physicians, including 47 (11.3 percent) from training program directors, 146 (35 percent) from current or former trainees pregnant during cardiology training, and 224 (53.7 percent) from current or former trainees who were not pregnant during training. Among the trainees, 280 (67.1 percent) were parents during training.

Family benefits and policies were not consistently available across institutions, and knowledge on the existence of such policies was low.

Average parental leave ranged from 1 to 2 months in the US compared with >4 months outside the US. In all countries surveyed, paternity leave was not common (n=11 participants, 2.6 percent). Of note, peers usually provided coverage during family leave (n=184, 44.1 percent), and 168 (91.3 percent) had no additional monetary or time compensation.

“Specialty training in cardiovascular diseases is consistently perceived to have adverse job conditions and interfere with family life,” the investigators said. “There is a dearth of universal workforce support for trainees who become parents during training.”