Medical Specialty Board Parental, Caregiver, and Medical Leave Policy Updates After 2021 American Board of Medical Specialties Mandate

Parental, caregiver, and medical leave is essential for the well-being of medical trainees and their families. However, leave may be limited by ambiguous or restrictive policies or underused because trainees may fear the consequences of taking leave, including required "make-up" time resulting in delayed graduation. Effective July 1, 2021, the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) mandated member boards to allow residents in programs with durations of 2 years or longer "a minimum of 6 weeks...parental, caregiver and medical leave at least once during training without exhausting all other allowed time away from training and without extending training." The researchers assessed if and how boards adhered to this mandate, board policy variability, and changes compared with prior policies.