Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33959880›Full record

ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2021

Challenges to Navigating Pregnancy and Parenthood for Physician Parents: a Framework Analysis of Qualitative Data.

Georgina Freeman, Aleem Bharwani, Allison Brown, Shannon M Ruzycki

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
12citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
5.0field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Physician respondents in sexual misconduct concerns in Canada: a comparative case analysis using publicly available information.CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association journal = journal de l'Association medicale canadienne · 2026
    Article
  4. Parental Stress in Academic Emergency Medicine Physicians.Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine · 2025
    Article
  5. Perspectives and needs of neonatology division directors regarding gender equity.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2025
    Review
  6. Article
  7. Gender Gap in Parental Leave Among Physicians in Japan.Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2024
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Georgina FreemanW21C Research and Innovation Centre, O'Brien Institute for Public Health, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Aleem BharwaniDepartment of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Allison BrownDepartment of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada.
Shannon M RuzyckiDepartment of Medicine, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. shannon.ruzycki@ucalgary.ca.ORCID 0000-0002-8122-2910
University of Calgary · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundSome gender-based disparities in medicine may relate to pregnancy and parenthood. An understanding of the challenges faced by pregnant physicians and physician parents is needed to design policies and interventions to reduce these disparities.

objectiveOur objective was to characterize work-related barriers related to pregnancy and parenthood described by physicians.

designWe performed framework analysis of qualitative data collected through individual, semi-structured interviews between May and October 2018. Data related to pregnancy or parenthood were organized chronologically to understand barriers throughout the process of pregnancy, planning a parental leave, taking a parental leave, returning from parental leave, and parenting as a physician.

participantsPhysician faculty members of all genders, including parents and non-parents, from a single department at a large academic medical school in Canada were invited to participate in a department-wide study broadly exploring gender equity. APPROACH: Thematic analysis guided by constructivism. KEY

resultsTwenty-eight physicians were interviewed (7.2% of eligible physicians), including 22 women and 6 men, of which 18 were parents (15 mothers and 3 fathers). Common barriers included a lack of systems-level guidelines for pregnancy and parental leave, inconsistent workplace accommodations for pregnant physicians, a lack of guidance and support for planning parental leaves, and difficulties obtaining clinical coverage for parental leave. Without systems-level guidance, participants had to individually navigate challenges and resolve these difficulties, including negotiating with their leadership for benefits. This led to stress, wasted time and effort, and raised questions about fairness within the department.

conclusionsPhysician parents face unique challenges navigating institutional policies as well as planning and taking parental leave. Systems-level interventions such as policies for pregnancy, parental leave, and return to work are needed to address barriers experienced by physician parents.

Indexed as

Parental LeavePhysiciansCanadaFemaleHumansMaleParentsPregnancySchools, Medicalgender equityorganizational cultureparenthoodpregnancyqualitative study

Identifiers

PMID33959880
PMCPMC8642566
OpenAlexW3158417884

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.