Surgeon/physician marriages face challenges

Surgeons married to physicians appear to face more challenges in balancing their personal and professional lives than do surgeons whose partners work in a nonphysician field or stay at home, according to a recent study.

The study, in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, focused on how surgeons manage in being partnered with other surgeons, with other nonsurgical physicians, with nonphysicians, or with spouses who stay at home.

Surgeons in dual-physician relationships had a greater prevalence of career and work-home conflicts and were more likely to express depressive symptoms and low mental quality of life than surgeons whose partners stayed at home.