An exploratory study of mother-daughter physicians: an intergenerational comparison of professional and personal experiences.
OBJECTIVE
Physician daughters of physician mothers may experience unique advantages in their career development and in combining career and family. The objective of this exploratory study, the first on mother-daughter physicians, was to compare the professional and personal characteristics of physician mothers and their physician daughters.


METHODS
Two hundred fourteen families with at least one mother-daughter physician pair were identified through a nationwide search; 84% of the mothers and 87% of the daughters contacted returned a 56-item questionnaire. Data were analyzed to compare professional and personal characteristics of the subset of mothers and daughters who had both responded (n = 136 pairs).


RESULTS
Compared to their physician mothers, physician daughters were less satisfied with their career, less likely to feel in control of their work environment, more likely to report moderate or severe daily stress at work, and less likely to want their children to become physicians or to want to become physicians again if they were to relieve their lives. They were also less likely to want to change specialties. Physician daughters were more likely than their physician mothers to be 30 years or older when they had their first child, to have taken parental leave, and to have a spouse who took parental leave and less likely to experience their caregiving as a hindrance to their professional work and advancement.


CONCLUSIONS
Despite the availability of a physician mother role model, physician daughters reported less career satisfaction and more work-related stress than their physician mothers. These findings warrant further exploration and support the need for new work-family paradigms in medicine.
Shrier
Diane K
DK
Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and of Pediatrics, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20009, USA. diane.shrier.med.64@aya.yale.edu
Shrier
Lydia A
LA
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002321:Career Choice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014931:Women, Working / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data