Medical Student Parental Leave Policies at U.S. Medical Schools.

As medical training occurs during prime childbearing years, parental leave policies may affect the career and family choices of medical students. This cross-sectional study builds on existing research by quantifying the prevalence of formal policies for parental leave in highly ranked United States Medical Degree granting institutions, and analyzing the characteristics of those policies, with the objective of identifying existing best practices for future policy adopters to consider. Only 14% of the medical schools reviewed had substantive, stand-alone parental leave policies, and the majority of schools had leave of absence policies without mention of parental leave.