title: Rural Women Family Physicians: Strategies for Successful Work-Life Balance.
abstract: Women family physicians experience challenges in maintaining work-life balance while practicing in rural communities. We sought to better understand the personal and professional strategies that enable women in rural family medicine to balance work and personal demands and achieve long-term career satisfaction.
  
  
  
  Women family physicians practicing in rural communities in the United States were interviewed using a semistructured format. Interviews were recorded, professionally transcribed, and analyzed using an immersion and crystallization approach, followed by detailed coding of emergent themes.
  
  
  
  The 25 participants described a set of strategies that facilitated successful work-life balance. First, they used reduced or flexible work hours to help achieve balance with personal roles. Second, many had supportive relationships with spouses and partners, parents, or other members of the community, which facilitated their ability to be readily available to their patients. Third, participants maintained clear boundaries around their work lives, which helped them to have adequate time for parenting, recreation, and rest.
  
  
  
  Women family physicians can build successful careers in rural communities, but supportive employers, relationships, and patient approaches provide a foundation for this success. Educators, employers, communities, and policymakers can adapt their practices to help women family physicians thrive in rural communities.
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Grand Rapids, Michigan julie.phillips@hc.msu.edu.
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Phillips
authors.affiliation: University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hustedde
authors.affiliation: Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bjorkman
authors.affiliation: University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
authors.forename: Rupa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Prasad
authors.affiliation: Mount Sinai Hospital Family Medicine Residency Program, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Orlando
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sola
authors.affiliation: Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wendling
authors.affiliation: Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bjorkman
authors.affiliation: Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, New York.
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Paladine
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D008875:Middle Aged; D010822:Physicians, Women / Q000523:psychology*; D019035:Rural Health Services; D012424:Rural Population; D014481:United States; D000072358:Work-Life Balance
keywords: family life; physician workforce; practice-based research; primary care access; rural; women in medicine