Healio: Women, Parents Experience High Levels of Burden From Early, Late Tumor Board Meeting Times
Healio recently interviewed Katelyn Atkins, MD, PhD, medical director and assistant professor of Radiation Oncology at Cedars-Sinai, about the results of a recently published survey she co-authored that assessed the burden of early-morning and late-evening tumor board meetings on oncology physicians. Tumor boards bring together expert physicians of varying specialties to evaluate treatment plans for complex cancer cases.
Atkins told Healio that the survey measured tumor board burden among practicing oncologists at Cedars-Sinai and other top cancer centers and that women and parents reported experiencing high levels of burden. Results showed that having two or more children, attending three or more hours of tumor boards each week, and being in radiology or pathology led to the highest burden.
“I started having more discussions with—mostly women—junior faculty colleagues about the frequency and ease for which administrative and other meetings would be scheduled outside of regular business hours,” Atkins told Healio, “including the particular challenges this poses for parents with young children trying to navigate a sustainable work-life balance.”
Atkins said the discussions frequently led to concerns about whether declining the meetings could negatively impact their careers.
Of the parents who responded to the survey, the majority reported a negative burden on childcare and on family dynamics.
“We hope that these findings can contribute toward potential solutions, including organizational changes that prioritize wellness of physicians and their families,” Atkins told Healio.
Those changes could include eliminating meetings at early or late times, reducing administrative burdens, continuing virtual format options, exploring new meeting formats and implementing some form of tangible compensation for working challenging hours.
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