WELLNESS
Parenthood During Physicianhood: Insights From an EM Resident-Parent
SAEM PULSE | MAY-JUNE 2024
By Michelle Beetler, MD on behalf of the SAEM Wellness Committee and the SAEM Academy for Women in Emergency Medicine
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I check each cord one more time. Ethernet to ensure flawless connection? Plugged in. Charging cable to prevent unexpected power loss? Check. Ring light to look as professional as possible? On and working. Adjusting my camera angle once more, I ensure everything is set just right. Three books under the computer? No, four would offer a better view. I add the book, adjust the camera angle, check the image, and... perfect. Not only do I look presentable, but the secret I am trying to hide from the interviewer on the other end of this virtual residency interview is completely out of sight. My secret? No, I’m not wearing sweatpants, though they would be more comfortable than the slacks I wear, unbuttoned and unzipped to accommodate my real secret: my pregnant belly.
I understood then, as I do now, that my pregnancy should not affect how the interviewer perceives me, yet I worried it might. I feared programs would rank me lower because of my clear intention to have children. I realize now, since choosing a residency can be so challenging, that I should have used my pregnancy as a tool to filter out programs that would not be family friendly. Ultimately, and ironically, after all my anxiety during interviews, the program I matched at was the only program that knew I would be a mother when I started training. Thankfully, I have been well-supported as a mother throughout my training, though I’m aware not all parents have had the same experience. Before I officially started, I brought my infant son to a residency social event and felt
immediate care and support. When I disclosed my desire for more children, leadership assured me it would not be an issue, and indeed, it wasn’t. Upon disclosing my pregnancy during second year, night shifts vanished off my schedule to support my and my developing daughter’s health. I was encouraged to take as much maternity leave as I needed or wanted, even extending my residency if I desired. My rotation schedule was adjusted to ease my return to full-time residency training. When I chose to breastfeed my second born, co-residents and attendings reminded me to pump on shift, and a breastmilk fridge was placed in the resident workroom. Even when my children accompanied me to a journal club due to my husband’s last minute work emergency, my co-residents