Medical students do not have the same protected maternity, paternity, and adoption rights as employees, nor do they always have access to the same accommodations. Medical schools should formalise their policies and resources so that students who become parents during medical school are given adequate support. This would also help to usher in a cultural shift that normalises conversations about pregnancy planning and parenthood during medical training. This policy should be signposted to all matriculating medical students, with clear advice on where to go if they need further support. This improvement in medical schools will hopefully be a catalyst for change in residency programmes too, so that better support is offered to parents at all stages of medical training.

Source: New York Times May 22, 2023 17:13 UTC