![]() The existing process is vague and unclear, leaving many reticent to risk career prospects in favour of asking for part-time or interrupted training. Unfortunately, the governing bodies within Australasia, both the RACP and the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ), do not have clear policies or provisions to support trainees interested in part-time or interrupted training for family planning purposes. For those considering their options, we are advised to explore the Royal Australasian College of Physicians’ (RACP) policies regarding parental leave. In Australia, very few cardiology trainees have interrupted our 3-year specialty training to take maternity leave. This is in conflict with the usual time female trainees would otherwise be considering family planning. Moreover, longer training timelines and increasing requirements such as higher education (PhD, MPH) during cardiology training means trainees will only start consulting work in their late 30s. Unfortunately, very few have reconciled specialty training with family planning, prior to starting fellowship or consulting work. I, along with my peers, look to female mentors who have navigated this path. The choice and timing are uniquely individual. There is a growing proportion of women, like me, who want to continue clinical work while pursuing a family. ![]() Additionally, we have had numerous discussions about shared parental leave as we feel his vocation is more flexible to enable him to work from home and part time, which would allow me to continue to pursue my career aspirations. ![]() We both feel somewhat at a loss to determine that “ideal” time. ![]() We share a desire to have children, however, we are both acutely aware that this is largely dependent on finding a manageable time as dictated by my training program. He listens to my reflections from my workday, each and every day, regardless of whether he understands the content. He continues to support me through every academic achievement, every paper, every conference, without a single complaint. Despite this, he has continued to support me, even when I had to relocate for 2 years to a regional centre as part of my core specialty training. Given that his work is not in the healthcare space, he has found it difficult at times to understand the expectations and pressures of our training program. I met my husband outside of work at the end of medical school. This is even more true for Cardiology training in particular, as the on-call commitments tend encroach on one’s personal life. The further along the training pathway, the more absorbed you become, until you realise your personal life has taken a back seat. When we embark on this long, rewarding journey, it initially seems like a fantastic and open pathway to explore a variety of specialties among medicine, surgery and general practice. I am sure this is a sentiment shared by others. In an era where everything is evolving at such a fast pace, particularly with regard to research, I fear the thought of falling off the ‘conveyor belt’ of specialty medicine training and being forgotten in the academic world. I don’t yet feel I have reached a point in my career where I am happy to take a step back, take time off or work part-time. This is almost certainly influenced by the growing number of friends and colleagues who have had one or more children in their late 20s to early 30s. While I try to reassure myself that this year will be no different, there is a heightened awareness of the mythical biological clock.
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