Caring for Caregivers: An Assessment of the Caregiving Resources US Academic Medical Schools Provide to Students.

Abstract

Caregiving is a role students may have to fill while pursuing their medical degree. The scope of institutional support for US medical students who serve as caregivers has not been evaluated. This exploratory study's purpose was to evaluate and describe institutional support for student caregivers, identify gaps, and provide insights to support this student population. We assessed institutional support by searching the publicly available websites of 170 Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) accredited medical schools (and their associated university, as applicable) from January 2023 to April 2023 for caregiving support resources. We iteratively assigned a code to each identified resource and sorted codes into categories according to caregiving type: parenting, non-parental, and inclusive (parenting and non-parental caregiving). Out of the 170 medical schools evaluated, 87% (N = 148/170) had at least one resource of any category, 87% (N = 148/170) had at least one resource for parental caregivers, 6% (N = 10/170) had at least one inclusive resource, and 2% (N = 3/170) had at least one resource for non-parental caregivers. Further analysis of the resources revealed that across AAMC schools, there were 19 unique types of support provided. Although most US medical schools offer some support for caregiving students, available resources are predominantly parent-focused and do not adequately address the full range of caregiving roles. Lactation spaces, on-campus childcare, and support groups were most commonly offered, while resources for non-parental caregiving students were limited and inconsistently available. Our findings highlight current gaps in institutional support provided to caregiving medical students. Addressing these gaps is critical for promoting student success and retention and may be achieved through the development, implementation, and evaluation of inclusive caregiving resources.