Diane
Specialty: Psychiatry with a subspecialty in child and adolescent psychiatry
Age: 65
What are your work experiences in the field of medicine?
Currently, I have a part time solo private practice in Washington DC in psychiatry and child/adolescent psychiatry and am an “academic without walls”. I teach, mentor, write, and do research. I am a clinical professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and of pediatrics at George Washington University Medical Center. I co-developed and co-taught for over a decade a lunch time elective for first year medical students called Parenting and Professionalism(combining career and family) while I was Child Psychiatry Division Director at New Jersey Medical School.
You stated above that you are currently working part-time. Did you work part-time at any other points in your career?
The first time I worked part time was when my children were young after recovering from major surgery. Following that, I decided to work part time (25 hours/week) for the next 5 years.The second time was when my parents and my in-laws were aging and ill and dying. However, now that my children are grown and have children of their own and my parents and in-laws are all deceased, I enjoy having the flexibility of part time work and being my own boss.
Are there issues unique to your specialty that one should consider when part-time?
My specialty accommodates part time work and working in multiple venues. You can also be somewhat selective of patients if you are in private practice or can work collaboratively with other mental health professionals so that your patients are adequately covered when you travel.
What has been the most difficult part of balancing your family and professional life?
My husband and I have both had and continue to have professional careers at high levels of functioning and have worked hard to try to balance our lives. The most difficult part was finding and keeping good child care and having sufficient support from family and friends. We have always worked hard and taken four weeks or more vacation a year usually a week or more every season. We are active in professional organizations and socialize with friends and neighbors.
What do you feel are some of the key issues for integrating a career in medicine with a personal/family life?
Here are some suggestions from a paper published in a Commentary in Pediatrics[Pediatricians Leading the Way: Integrating a Career and a Family/Personal Life Over the Life Cycle – Diane K. Shrier, Lydia A. Shrier, Michael Rich and Larrie Greenberg. Pediatrics 2006:117;519-522 (This link takes you off of the AMA Web site. The AMA is not responsible for content on non-AMA Web sites)] The advice applies to other specialties than pediatrics and some of it was adapted from the Parenting and Professionalism course I taught at UMDNJ-NJMS (Newark).
• Clarify your professional and personal/family goals in consultation with your significant others and revise it as career and personal commitments change.
• Be aware of the wide range of career choices that might be available to you at different times in the life cycle.
• Consider the advantages to having children at different ages and different career stages.
• Be aware of the specific needs of individual children and for different types of parenting at various stages of development.
• Don’t expect to do everything perfectly. Learn to delegate and establish time management strategies.
• Identify what you need in the work setting and advocate for yourself.
• Be creative and willing to compromise when necessary, while continuing to work towards your goals.
• Seek out senior colleagues to serve as mentors and role models in career development and personal/family life. Meet with supportive peers regularly and make use of the growing literature on combining career and family/personal life.
• Maintain a sense of humor and make time for pleasure and relaxation, exercise and hobbies, even if it is just getting away for a week or a weekend several times a year.
Other comments:
It was never easy, but having a supportive spouse who came from a family where both his mother and paternal grandmother were expected to run the family business and not expected to be a stay at home sole care-giver mother helped a lot. And I loved the work, even when it was stressful. I’ve done a lot of mentoring of junior faculty and trainees on life balancing and now my physician daughter is doing the same. Hope these suggestions are helpful.
Content provided by: Women Physicians Congress