title: Balancing the professional and personal.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review the common roles that physicians pursue away from work and identify related challenges and potential solutions, so that individuals can develop a personalized plan for success in each of the areas.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature review.
  
  
  METHODS
  University-based and university-affiliated medical centers.
  
  
  METHODS
  No subjects were involved in this literature review.
  
  
  METHODS
  Literature searches in Entrez PubMed and the following Websites: http://www.apgo.org, http://www.psychiatrictimes.com, as well as other data sources.
  
  
  METHODS
  Results of physician surveys and summaries of strategies for achieving work-personal life balance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  According to surveys of physicians in various specialties, a majority of physicians have high levels of job, marital, and parental satisfaction. However, professional and personal challenges faced by physicians include struggle with time management, lack of mentorship, and difficulty maintaining intimate relationships. Multiple potentially effective strategies have been described in the literature, including exerting control over hours worked, taking a long view of life that acknowledges the need for changing priorities over time, developing communication skills, seeking counseling services if needed that focus on physician relationships, and simplifying home life whenever possible.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although there are unique challenges in being a physician, partner, and parent, many of the professional challenges faced by physicians are common to many adults in the United States. Self-assessment may help individuals to clarify priorities and develop strategies that can lead to improved personal satisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Reproductive Biology and Medicine Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, USA. armstroa@mail.nih.gov
authors.forename: Alicia Y
authors.initials: AY
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.forename: Ruben J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Alvero
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dunlow
authors.forename: Mary Catherine
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Nace
authors.forename: Valerie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Elizabeth A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Stewart
mesh_terms: D002321:Career Choice; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D009774:Obstetrics; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010820:Physicians / Q000523:psychology; D011247:Pregnancy; D012941:Social Responsibility