Transparency of Parental Leave Policies to Prospective Students in US Physician Assistant Programs: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

IntroductionParental leave policies are not well established or always available for prospective graduate students. This study examined the availability and inclusivity of PA program parental leave policies to prospective students at accredited US programs.MethodsThe websites and available student handbooks of the 282 currently accredited PA programs were searched for the terms “pregnant,” “pregnancy,” “maternity,” “parent,” “family,” “child,” and/or “birth.” Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s chi-square test were used to analyze the data.ResultsIn total, 13.5% (38/282) of PA program websites and available handbooks met search criteria. Of these 38 programs, 23 (60.5%) provide information with gendered language that discriminates based on sex, most commonly only mentioning the pregnant female.DiscussionPA programs should create specific policies for pregnancy-related and parental leaves that are inclusive to heteronormative families as well as nontraditional and nonnuclear families, and these policies should be widely available to potential applicants and students.