A parent and a doctor

The recent article by Bibiana Cujec and colleagues highlighted several important factors relating to lifestyle and general life satisfaction within medicine.¹ The accompanying commentary also raised a number of important issues.² I was disturbed, however, by the statement that "women sacrifice productivity to parenting (or vice versa)."² This suggests that parenting is a nonproductive activity.

It is true that for women the pursuit of any career is often filled with stress and guilt, and these feelings also occur when women choose to remain at home with their children. Statements suggesting that parenting work at home is nonproductive only serve to increase those feelings.

I was much more encouraged by the recent suggestion by Barbara Lent and colleagues that, in relation to parental leave, all employers "should be encouraged to facilitate the efforts of both women and men to balance work and family responsibilities."³

We should not be focusing on encouraging (and sometimes pushing) women to leave the home and go into the workplace. Instead, our challenge is to encourage both men and women to be all they can be and want to be. The aspirations of parents may include pursuing a career outside of the home, but we should also encourage men and women to share responsibilities for our children, who often don't see enough of us.

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Cornelius Woelk
Family physician Winkler, Man