Parental Leave—Are We Implementing Perspectives Rather Than Policies?

In this issue of JAMA Surgery, Castillo-Angeles and colleagues report on the perspective and experience of surgical program directors (PDs) on paternity leave. We agree with the article's major conclusions, which highlight a stigma surrounding child-rearing, with the potential to negatively impact children. We also agree that fathers and nonbirthing partners in surgical residency programs are unlikely to take their full leave opportunities. We postulate that there are additional facets than stigma though, of which are demonstrated in the article: misunderstanding of leave policies and potential misadvising about leave policies.