It takes two: Take-home lessons from successful physician marriages

While at-home partnerships can be difficult for physicians to balance, they can be key to a happy work-life balance, according to a study published online Aug. 5 in Academic Medicine.

First author Rachel L. Perlman, MD, of the Ann Arbor Veterans Association Medical Center in Michigan, noted that strong examples for what works in a marriage or life-partnership are important for students coming up through medical programs now.

With this in mind, Perlman et al performed qualitative interviews with 25 physicians and their spouses looking at both situations where one spouse or both were physicians. The team focused on what the couples found helpful and successful and found a set of reoccurring themes.

The couples comprised of one or more physicians more frequently were later in the career when they started. Children often came later, as well. Partners identified that shared values and defined responsibilities were important. Mutual support was important as was the benefit of the stability a physician’s position brought to uncertain times.

Of the individuals interviewed, 40 percent were in dual-physician relationships, while the rest had one of the pair as a physician.

Perlman et al suggested that work-life balance needs to be made part of the educational curriculum in medical school. "Being in a medical marriage is an experience I share with many others in academic medicine, which helped me realize the importance of this study in helping not only my colleagues and trainees, but also myself," said Perlman in a press release.

"Noting the important role of support provides insight into the ways in which physician relationships manage to remain resilient amid ongoing career demands," said co-author Paula Ross, PhD, of the University of Michigan Medical School, also in Ann Arbor.

Third Co-author Monica Lypson, MD, also of the University of Michigan Medical School agreed. "Physicians and their spouses experience challenges to their relationships, some of which are shared with the general population and others of which are unique to the field of medicine."

The importance, they wrote, is on the ability of the successful partnerships to communicate what works to others. In turn, role models would insure a healthy, stable workforce.