Protecting your time key to work-life balance for women in oncology
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Achieving a work-life balance requires women in academic and clinical oncology to carefully manage their time, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Charu Aggarwal, MD, MPH.
“The boundaries between work and home life are becoming invisible – work has truly become integrated into our lives at home – and I find it important to be present when I’m in each role,” Aggarwal, Leslye M. Heisler associate professor for lung cancer excellence at University of Pennsylvania’s Abramson Cancer Center, told Healio.
Aggarwal said she often discusses time management strategies with colleagues and over the years has intentionally focused on how to maximize time with her husband and children when at home.
In addition to her clinical work, Aggarwal is a clinical researcher and conducts clinical trials that include validation of novel cancer biomarkers and research into non-small cell lung cancer.
“This balance between providing exemplary clinical care and conducting world class research requires time management and prioritization,” she said.
“If I’m home after a long day, I try not to look at a screen or look at my email and be totally present with my kids,” she continued. “There are days when I have to spend a few hours during the day managing my kids, but then I make sure that I have a few hours in the evening after they are in bed to manage my work. I think the very rigid rules of ‘working’ from 8 in the morning to 5 in the evening and ‘having your life’ after that are no longer in place, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is a complete overlap of work and life now. It’s a matter of efficiency and protecting your time, whether it’s academic, clinical or home life.”
Aggarwal said social media is a fantastic tool for career advancement that can lead to many academic opportunities through engagement with physicians. However, as it has become “part of the fiber of everyday life,” she said it is important to disconnect as part of being present in both work and life roles.
Finally, Aggarwal said it is important for women in medicine to invest in good resources and support systems.
“Reliable child care is the number one thing we need so that we are able to focus on the task at hand, as we often make life-changing decisions for patients,” Aggarwal said. “I have a network of moms who are not physicians who I can call in case of an emergency. As physician moms, we must focus on support systems to help us balance our careers and our home life.”
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Aggarwal is a member of the Healio Women in Oncology Peer Perspective Board. She can be reached at: charu.aggarwal@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
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