Medical students often ask current trainees during residency interviews: “Does anyone here have kids? Is it possible to be a parent and be a resident here?” As resident and fellow education continues to evolve, transparency of training program accommodations for parental leave has become a forefront issue. Greater than half of residents report delaying having children due to residency training.¹ However, surgical trainees do commonly take part in maternity or paternity leave, as described by approximately 41% of surgical training programs.² The current national standard, which was set by the American Board of Medical Specialties beginning in July 2021, allows for a minimum of 6 weeks away once during training without exhausting vacation or extending training.³ Mayo Clinic Enterprises recently announced an updated and progressive Paid Parenteral Leave Policy that allows for 80 hours of paid leave for spouses of partners who adopt or give birth. With this in mind, we aimed to complement our residency program’s supportive environment for maternity and paternity leave by enhancing accommodations before and after minimal leave requirements.

In our residency training program at Mayo Clinic in Arizona, resident call is composed of a chief resident or fellow, who is aided by a junior resident (PGY2–4) on primary call. We developed several policies for the resident or fellow around her or his leave, as demonstrated in the table.

The policy in the table was created to decrease an undue burden of call during the first several weeks to months of parenthood, where resident well-being is already tenuous. Thus, they are specific to our department and residency training program and should not be stenciled to others without keen insight to the details of that program’s call and chain of resident command. Next, we wished to maximize work hour flexibility for new parents. In our mentorship model of surgical training, residents may often have administrative days to catch up on service work or perform research. Often, residents will venture to the operating room for interesting cases or be assigned to a room if coverage is needed. Providing the trainee with the option to allocate her or his time without having to explain the details of their personal life is the professional and efficient approach we chose. Lastly, we believe this policy maximizes the competency and autonomy of the trainees taking call with the resident post-parental leave. This served as an excellent opportunity for all parties involved to increase their call competencies without increasing work volume.

Ultimately, the mental and physical well-being of urology trainees has significant downstream effects in the care of patients–and now for the children of the trainee. Residency programs should continue to provide support for trainees with newborns and for those expecting to deliver. We firmly believe that while policy change is an appropriate first step, ultimately the culture of urology departments and residency training programs will drive continued accommodations and equality, which will encourage trainees with child-bearing plans to pursue careers in medicine and surgery.