Work-life balance an important career consideration in oncology
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When Neeta K. Venepalli, MD, MBA, FACP, discusses her upcoming job change with colleagues, she often is met with surprise.
“Friends will ask, ‘What’s the career jump? Where’s the new C suite position? You must be on to bigger and better things,’” Venepalli, who currently serves as associate professor in the division of hematology and oncology at the University of Illinois (UIC) and associate chief medical officer at University of Illinois Hospital, said in an interview with Healio. “I tell them I am, but not necessarily in the way they think.”
Venepalli, a member of Healio’s Women in Oncology Peer Perspective Board, will soon transition to the division of oncology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Although the job will utilize both her oncology training and the MBA she earned after starting at UIC, other factors played equally into her decision.
“With a dual-physician household and a 3- and a 5-year-old, my husband and I made a conscious decision to prioritize work-life rebalance and proximity to family,” she said. “It was not an easy choice to leave jobs we love. However, I wanted to focus more on my children’s development while exploring other aspects of being a professional woman in medicine for the next few years. Luckily, an amazing opportunity at UNC opened up to allow me to both be close to family and continue doing what I love at work.”
The value of work-life balance may not be emphasized as part of the upward trajectory of an oncology career, but for oncologists with caregiver responsibilities, this balance often enables professional fulfillment without sacrificing relationships and family.
“I always value authentic conversations between women physicians in leadership and mentorship positions as to how they achieve and maintain this balance,” Venepalli said. “Conversations about how women colleagues are rebalancing and flexing time for themselves, their children, elderly parents, partners and families while succeeding at work; difficult choices around priorities; and the less rosy aspects of our daily lives — these are important conversations, and they are largely hidden from public view.”
A family decision
Venepalli said in her new position, she will have the opportunity to harness her backgrounds in business and medicine while prioritizing family.
“What really drew me to my new position was an organizational culture visibly valuing women leadership and a dynamic cohort of strong women colleagues, as well as the opportunity to integrate my passion for business and academic oncology while remaining close to my family,” she said. “My parents are growing older. My kids are young. Time is precious.”
Venepalli recalled some words of advice from her father, who pursued an MBA while working full time as a PhD chemist and business owner when she was young.
“He said, ‘At the end of the day, no one cares as much about your work as you do. Work can replace you; your family can’t,’” Venepalli said.
Venepalli and her husband discussed the importance of having family nearby and reached a decision together.
“We agreed it was time to take a leap of faith outside our comfort zone, to continue prioritizing what we do best and what we love about work, but to rebalance and move,” she said.
The responsibility of balancing work with family obligations generally has fallen to women, leading to gender disparities in academic workplace productivity and advancement. This has intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“An unanswered question is how this disparity impacts women in administrative leadership positions, whether it be program directors, educators and mentors, and those involved in organizational leadership structures,” Venepalli said. “During the pandemic, I was routinely at our hospital more than 12 to 14 hours daily coordinating aspects of our COVID-19 response. The only reason I could do this was because my father stayed with us for almost 10 weeks, caring for my children. Many of my colleagues didn’t have this luxury. Additionally, with the start of online school intersecting with return to full operations for most medical centers, what’s the impact for women physicians, and what are they choosing to leave behind?”
Not all or nothing
Venepalli said she would advise women considering a career change to remember that seeking to balance work and life is healthy and achievable.
“One of my mentors who recently catapulted up the career ladder gave me great advice — I have been so blessed to be surrounded by amazing women mentors,” she said. “I said, ‘I feel like I have to choose family or job.’ She said, ‘You can’t do everything, but don’t forget that it’s not an all-or-nothing situation. Pick the job that lets you evolve. The balance will keep shifting. You can figure out how to make it work. It might not be easy, but it’s doable.’”
For more information:
Neeta K. Venepalli, MD, MBA, FACP, can be reached at: nkv@uic.edu.
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