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The female doctors who reported maternal discrimination were also
more likely to report feeling burned out and more likely to value
workplace changes that would make life easier for parents.
Senior author Dr. Eleni Linos of the University of California, Los
Angeles was surprised to find "such high perceptions of
discrimination" and particularly surprised "that such a high
percentage was due to motherhood like breastfeeding, pregnancy and
maternity leave."
Linos told Reuters Health that the survey participants were drawn
from the online community known as the Physician Moms Group, which
is composed of nearly 70,000 physicians who are also mothers. The
researchers posted a survey in the group in June 2016 that included
questions about discrimination in the workplace.
They received 5,782 responses, with 78 percent reporting some type
of discrimination.
About 66 percent reported gender discrimination and about 36 percent
reported maternal discrimination. Of the 4,222 respondents who
reported gender or maternal discrimination, about 40 percent
reported both.
Among women reporting maternal discrimination, about 90 percent said
it was due to pregnancy or maternity leave and about 48 percent said
it was due to breastfeeding.
As reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, maternal discrimination
mostly took the form of disrespectful treatment by support staff,
being left out of administrative decisions and not receiving pay or
benefits equal to their male peers.
Compared to physician-mothers who didn't report workplace
discrimination, those who did were more likely to report valuing
workplace changes like longer paid maternity leave, help with child
care, more breastfeeding support and additional sick days.
About 46 percent of doctors who reported maternal discrimination
also reported burnout, compared to about 34 percent of those who
didn't report the discrimination.
In a separate report in the same journal, Dr. Monee Rassolian of
Michigan State University in Flint and colleagues write that more
than half of doctors in the United States reported at least one
symptom of burnout in 2014.
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They analyzed data from 9,452 doctors seeking certification from the
American Board of Family Medicine and found an increased risk of
burnout tied several workplace factors including stress and working
in hectic environments.
"Burnout is a really important topic, because it has consequences
for patient care and outcomes," said Linos.
In an editorial accompanying the new research, two doctors who are
mother and daughter point out that half of young physicians are
women of childbearing age.
"Decisions about clinical staffing levels (including residency
program size) should anticipate the need to schedule around
reasonable maternity leave, reduced call schedules in late
pregnancy, and part-time schedules for new mothers (and more and
more often, fathers)," write Dr. Marcia Angell of Harvard Medical
School in Boston and Dr. Lara Goitein of Christus St. Vincent
Regional Hospital in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Linos said supporting doctors who are also mothers benefits the
healthcare system through better care, better patient outcomes and
better teachers for future generations.
"As a physician mother, I feel supporting physician moms is really
essential for everyone," she said.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/2pdIBtn, http://bit.ly/2pZX0GB and http://bit.ly/2pdPTx0
JAMA Internal Medicine, online May 8, 2017.
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