Parenting and a Surgical Career: Practical Tips for Survival

Dr. Erika Rangel is a clinically active general surgeon and surgical intensivist, the Director of the SICU at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, and the BWH Associate Clerkship Director for Harvard Medical School. She completed her MD at UCSF in 2003 and her general surgery residency in 2011 at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and is board-certified in General Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. As a surgeon, mother to two young boys, and wife of a fellow academic surgeon, she is a passionate advocate for women in surgery and mentors residents seeking to build a family during training. Her research focuses on defining the challenges related to pregnancy and parenthood during surgical residency and on quantifying the impact these challenges have on professional satisfaction and risk or attrition. Her work has led to revision of the published American Board of Surgery Leave Policies in 2017 to better  accommodate surgical residents requesting maternity leave. She was recently featured in the New York Times article “When the surgeon is a mom.”

• New York Times Feature
• ACS Webcast
• Relevant Publications