Parental leave policies for faculty in U.S. medical schools

Article Abstract:

To learn more regarding the policies of US medical schools in granting parental leave and providing child care for faculty members, an increasing number of whom are women, a survey of all 127 medical schools was conducted. Medical school deans were asked to identify an appropriate person to answer a 92-item questionnaire concerning maternity, child care, and paternity leaves; tenure; adoption; and child care facilities. One hundred nineteen of the schools responded. Twenty-six of these have no written guidelines concerning maternity leave, 40 do have specific policies, and 53 classify maternity leave as a condition that qualified women for sick or disability leave. The duration of allowable maternity leave is determined after submission of a doctor's note in 69 schools. If sick days are used for maternity leave (possible in 72 schools), the median time allotted is slightly less than 7 weeks. Thirty-seven schools offer a form of paid leave not completely dependent on vacation or sick days. When employees take maternity leave, 95 schools require that they pay their own health insurance and other benefits during the leave period. Virtually all the schools (97 percent) guarantee that the mother's job will continue after she returns from leave. Child care leave is not allowed by 86 percent of the schools, and sick days cannot be used for this purpose; 71 percent of the schools did not allow vacation days to be used for child care. Five schools pay salaries for paternity leave, usually less than one week's duration. A common way for faculty members to take maternity or parental leave is by moving from full- to part-time status, which, however, compromises the member's tenure status in 72 percent of the schools. Twenty-one schools own or operate child care facilities and 31 are affiliated with hospitals with such facilities. These results indicate that faculty members of medical schools need considerable improvement in the parental leave and child care options open to them. For comparison: all employees in Canada receive between four and five months of maternity leave. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Surveys, Medical schools, Maternity benefits, Family leave, School-based child care

---

Part-time faculty in academic medicine: present status and future challenges

Article Abstract:

Most part-time medical school faculty may be happy with their career despite certain types of drawbacks. Among 245 part-time faculty at different medical schools, 63% were male and 27% were female. Male faculty worked an average of 51 hours per week, combining teaching with private practice. Female faculty worked an average of 35 hours and were more likely to divide their time between teaching and family responsibilities. Eighty-six percent of part-time faculty did not have tenure, and 47% had developed their own position at the medical school. Many felt that their chances for promotion were poorer and that their colleagues viewed them negatively as a result of their part-time status. Part-time faculty were happy with their career for different reasons. Women were less likely to be satisfied overall with their career than men.

Employment, College teachers, Part-time, Part time college faculty

---

Clinician-educators in academic medical centers: a two-part challenge

Article Abstract:

Clinician-educators are assuming larger roles among the faculty of medical colleges, teaching medical students, developing curricula, and maintaining active patient care practices. Clinician-educators typically spend less time doing research, compared to traditional professors of medicine. By spending 40-60% of their time in a clinical role, clinician-educators perform patient care services that generate revenue for the university. Some colleges have developed separate career tracks for clinician-educators to account for both their clinical and teaching roles in awarding promotions.

Officials and employees, Clinical medicine, Study and teaching, Hospitals, University, University hospitals

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Inclusion of women in clinical trials - policies for population subgroups. Women in clinical trials of new drugs: a change in Food and Drug Administration policy
• Abstracts: Influence of indomethacin on extracellular calcium homeostasis. Aggressive treatment in early rheumatoid arthritis: a randomised controlled trial
• Abstracts: Lack of influence of non-inherited maternal HLA-DR alleles on susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis. Absence of an association between HLA-DRB1*04 and rheumatoid arthritis in newly diagnosed cases from the community
• Abstracts: Preventing HIV/AIDS among adolescents: schools as agents of behavior change. AIDS risk reduction among a multiethnic sample of urban high school students
• Abstracts: Assessment and prediction of long-term cure in patients with the Zollinger-Ellison syndrome: the best approach

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.