A recent article published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology highlights how “juggling parenting responsibilities with a full-time cardiology job in the early years of one’s career may significantly affect mental well-being and professional growth.”

Balancing career and parenting responsibilities pose significant challenges to early career cardiologists. “As the idiom goes, ‘it takes a village,’” writes Aditya S. Bharadwaj, MD, FACC; Matthew W. Sherwood, MD, MHS, FACC; Michael W. Cullen, MD, FACC; and Poonam Velagapudi, MD, MS, FACC. They note that day-to-day activities like launching a career, obtaining research funding, meeting clinical productivity targets, supporting a family, raising children, paying student debt, and more can lead to anxiety, burnout, deferral of leadership and research opportunities, and reduced organizational commitments. These challenges can be mitigated by “supportive institutions at the domestic, community, and organizational level” that can “help early career cardiologists navigate these challenges and thrive both on personal and professional fronts.”

Bharadwaj and colleagues suggest that health care organizations can help by incorporating flexible call schedules and work hours, allowing options for remote work when clinically feasible, accommodating parental leave policies, avoiding evening and weekend meetings, etc. They also highlight the work of the ACC Early Career Section to collect current data on challenges and develop systematic solutions.

Clinical Topics: Cardiovascular Care Team, Prevention, Stress

Keywords: Burnout, Psychological, Anxiety, Policy, Delivery of Health Care, Parental Leave, Leadership, Parenting

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