Family Matters



One of the many issues that comes up in our office is the push and pull of family responsibilities. When I was younger, before I had a family of my own, I wasn't very sympathetic to women who had child care issues. I was a perfectionist who saw the job as paramount, and anything that interfered with it as an unnecessary distraction.



To say motherhood opened my eyes to the situation is an understatement. I learned the hard way just how difficult it is to maintain a career and raise children.



At my current office, I wasted no time implementing flexible scheduling, and time off for new parents. When working mothers request sick days or exploit the system to care for their kids, I don't judge them, but rather to help them use it to their best advantage.



The thing I never anticipated when I was younger was just how beneficial such humane policies would be for morale. People like their jobs much more when they don't have to overly compromise their lives to do them.



The great thing about working in medicine is that it makes you aware of how fragile life is, and how connected we all are to one another. It makes me proud to think I help foster a workplace environment where everyone knows their lives outside of the office truly matter.