Abstract
Together with my wife, who is also a medical doctor, and my 3 children, I have been working as a neurosurgeon for a total of 33 years. Currently, I am the department chair and board member of the Gender Equity Committee of the Japan Neurosurgical Society. My initial contribution describes my personal history of how my wife and I have conquered difficulties as working parents. I further contributed my analysis of the gap between the minds of young doctors and medical students and the reality of working circumstances for medical doctors in Japan. This includes facing life events, especially having children, which present many difficulties for the an individual or partners, and for partners working together. A substitute doctor for maternity leave is not available automatically in Japan. The proportion of women who are medical students in Japan has been increasing by 33%, however the social infrastructure is not ready for it. We definitely need a more sophisticated social system where medical doctor parents can work more comfortably.
