Health professional students experience role conflict due to the pressures of maintaining a high GPA during college while also having a normal social life, and this conflict will likely continue into your career. Let’s hear a story from Dr. S as she recounts her struggles with role conflict.

“As a pre-med student in college, I had difficulties balancing my academic and social life and eventually erred by studying too much and not fully participating in extracurricular organizations and activities. I completed my undergraduate degree in three years, and this required making decisions about what roles I had to neglect. In medical school, I was faced with the same role conflicts, and these intensified once I married. Being a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, and involved in the church and community causes role conflict with my career. We worked 36-hour shifts as interns, and the most significant role conflict was with finding time to sleep. Studying and completing my rotations was time-consuming and left little time for other endeavors. Upon finishing my fellowship and beginning my practice at a children’s hospital, I still had role conflicts. The majority of physicians do not work a 40-hour work, and with being on call, it can be over 60 hours per week. This creates more role conflict in regard to maintaining a work-life balance. Being a wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, and involved in the church and community causes role conflict with my career. Eventually, I recruited a female physician to job share with me, and now we both average 40 hours a week, and I am on call only once every five weekends. This was my solution to role conflict, and it was one of the best decisions I have made in my career.”