Physician Continuing Medical Education

MICHEL MARTIN, host: I'm Michel Martin, and this is TELL ME MORE, from NPR News.

Now it's time for our Moms conversation. Every week, we ask a diverse group of parents to take on the issues that parents care about most. Today, a special Moms conversation about work/life balance. This has become a hot topic in many workplaces. And the argument goes that people, especially younger workers, have come to expect a better work/life balance than their parents may have had. And if they don't find it or get it, they have a right - perhaps even the responsibility - to opt out, to put their families first.

But what if that job is at the doctor's office? Do doctors have a moral obligation to contribute as much as they can to their profession, even if they are parents? Recently, Dr. Karen Sibert caused a stir when she wrote an op-ed in the New York Times about the growing number of doctors, mostly women, who work part time or stop practicing medicine after they earn their degrees.

She cited a survey that four in 10 female doctors between the ages of 35 and 44 are working part-time. And she wrote that those decisions may seem personal, but have, quote, "serious consequences for patients and the public," unquote. She also questioned whether it's fair to taxpayers, since all medical education, not just in the military, is heavily subsidized.

As you might imagine, her article hit a nerve among doctors of both genders and moms of all professions and set off a firestorm of comments. We wanted to talk more about this. So we're joined now - and this is why this is special: we have four doctors with us who have different opinions, and they are also all mothers.

MARY BUCKHEIT: Dr. Karen Sibert wrote that opinion piece in the New York Times. As we mentioned, she's an anesthesiologist. She's also associate professor of anesthesiology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. She's a mother of four. Also with us is Dr. Michelle Au. She is an anesthesiologist also, author of the book "This Won't Hurt a Bit (And Other White Lies): My Education in Medicine and Motherhood." She's a mother of two. She's also written a piece responding to Dr. Sibert.