Combining Career and Motherhood – Dr. Amira Cerimagic
During our JIR CliPS meeting in Istanbul, we sat down with Dr. Amira Cerimagic, a clinical immunologist from Bosnia and Herzegovina who treats adult and pediatric patients in private practice. Amira came to Istanbul with her four children, aged 5 to 12, and spoke candidly about what it means to build a career in medicine and science while raising a family.
Not one phase, but a continuous challenge
Many young doctors imagine that starting a family is a single phase of life. In Amira’s experience, it is an ongoing balancing act. The early years, with pregnancies and maternity leave, were the hardest. She calls this period her “hibernation phase”: her career was not stopped, but paused, and she now feels about ten years behind colleagues who did not take that break.
Why open networks matter
For Amira, COST Actions such as JIR CliPS play a key role in opening doors again, wherever you are in your career. An open, interdisciplinary and welcoming network removes the pressure of asking “What am I bringing to the table?” and, she says, makes people more motivated to get involved. For colleagues from countries with fewer research resources, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina (what COST calls “Inclusiveness Target Countries”), these networks also provide access to the expertise of larger centers that see more patients, knowledge she brings back home.
Policies are only part of the answer
Bosnia and Herzegovina offers one year of maternity leave, though support for fathers remains limited. But beyond the leave itself, Amira notes, there are few ways to catch up afterwards. Rather than focusing only on birth rates, she believes societies should make professional careers smoother, so that young people no longer feel they have to weigh career against family. She also points to a cultural pattern: women often feel they must do more to prove they can cope, which is not always healthy.
Practical advice
Her main message for younger colleagues: don’t try to fit family life into a fixed timeline. Her mindset is to say “I can” first and work out the “how” later, as she did with this trip to Istanbul. And involve your children: when they understand why you need to be away for a while, they become part of the team. As for whether they will follow her into medicine, she simply hopes they will keep a curious mind and never stop asking questions.
🎙️ Watch the full interview on our YouTube channel or listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1LjsXGXkzwKTSlzj8DZrVE?si=xT4INTSITqeWe75vQZTrEw
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