Family values.

• Author: Peters, Charles
• Position: Tilting at Windmills - Work-life balance - Marjorie Williams - Brief Article - Obituary

U.S. News & World Report's Jan. 31 issue has an interesting section on health care. Among other findings, it reports that young doctors want a life outside medicine. A majority of applicants to medical schools are now women and they work fewer hours than male physicians have been accustomed to. They want to spend time with their husbands and children, and they refuse to be defined solely by their careers. Many younger male doctors have similar feelings.

In the past, this would have troubled me. I used to think that work of the highest quality required lunatic commitment. Indeed, I demanded this kind of commitment from the young people who worked here. But I've learned from the lives of these young people after they escape my clutches. All but a handful are happily married with children and are devoted spouses and parents, finding...