Maternity leave during fellowship- does it affect licensure?

[YourActualName]

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I plan to break the news to my fellowship director next week, but wanted to hear from others who might have been in a similar situation. I'm due in late May, by which time I anticipate already having enough postdoc hours to take the EPPP and be licensed in Ohio (one of the states that allows some pre-doc hours to be counted toward 3600 hour requirement). I'm in health psychology and this is only a one-year fellowship. My concern is that even if I'm already licensed in Ohio, taking 6 weeks off could be a detriment to getting licensed in other states at some point (I'm open to moving wherever for my first job). Anyone run into problems with this or have suggestions for how to avoid it coming back to bite me later on?

 

[AcronymAllergy]

I could see it being a problem if the state requires a full-time year (~2000 hours) of supervised postdoc experience, yes. I would say that even if you're able to get licensed, it might still be worthwhile to get some supervision for those final ~400 hours in order to ensure portability to other states.

That's just an off-the-cuff recommendation, though. It's not something I've dealt with directly, nor do I personally know folks who've done so.

 

[MCParent]

There's no substitute for asking the state board in this circumstance, I think. They're the ones who would have a problem with it, or not.

 

[WisNeuro]

It will in some states. Some states require the equivalent of a full-time year postdoc. So, you'd have to make up however much time you took off before getting licensed.

 

[sardonic]

I don't mean to thread-jack. Or, I guess I do. If it makes sense for me to make a new thread for this, I'm happy to do so. I'm wondering if people have ideas about when it makes the most sense to have a first child during the seemingly endless training process. Right after internship? Right after post-doc? During one of these? The first year of work after post-doc? After that? I know there is no right answer here...

 

[WisNeuro]

My vote is for when you qualify for family medical leave

 

[sardonic]

I guess I'm more worried about when makes sense in terms of career, rather than when makes sense in terms of money, but I hear you WisNeuro!

 

[WisNeuro]

Well, probably depends greatly on whether or not you do primarily clinical or research work. With clinical, I think you have much greater flexibility. In academia, I more often see people waiting until they've nailed down a good faculty position.

 

[researchgirl]

If you are on a more academic trakc, the best times seem to be:
-During graduate school if your school has a good maternity leave policy for students.
-As soon as you qualify for FMLA at the place where you will be doing a post doc. So, if you stay as a post doc where you interned, that could happen right at the beginning of post doc. If you go somewhere else, try to get a 2 year post doc and have the kid during year 2
-Once you have a faculty job - how soon after depends on FMLA and, if you are tenure-tracked, policies related to tenure and maternity leave.
-Or, you could wait til you have tenure.

Also, I hate that we have to plan this **** out so much.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Not necessarily the best time, but just what happened...my cohort and the cohorts above and below seemed to wait 3-4 yrs post graduation to have their kids. We were working in different settings (PP, VA, academic) but it all seemed to happen around that time. I actually think some of us would have waited longer, but we were all mid-30's and "time was ticking."

About 3 faculty members in my grad program waited until after tenure to have their first kid and two other faculty member i know waited until after tenure to have their 2nd. I know that one who had a baby prior to tenure was able to take advantage of stopping the tenure clock for one year due to the birth.

In case it is relevant, these are all women I am talking about.

Good luck!

 

[erg923]

Does this kinda take some of the fun out of it? Lol. Excessive family planning is a pet peeve of mine, so never mind me.

 

[sardonic]

Yes, it takes the fun out. I totally agree. But I think it's also a reality (an incredibly aggravating reality) that I need to plan this carefully. I have family members who tell me "there's never a right time," and I think they are right. But I think that there are some potentially wrong times.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Does this kinda take some of the fun out of it? Lol. Excessive family planning is a pet peeve of mine, so never mind me.

That's the luxury of being a man.

 

[WisNeuro]

That's the luxury of being a man.

Hey, we're involved in this too! My fiance and I are actually going through some of the discussions about this currently. I'm all done with my training, but she is currently on medical residency.

 

[Doctor Eliza]

Hey, we're involved in this too! My fiance and I are actually going through some of the discussions about this currently. I'm all done with my training, but she is currently on medical residency.

Sure you have to worry about finances and childcare. But you will never have to contend with the physical consequences of pregnancy, which can greatly impact your ability to work. Apart from needing time off to physically heal from the birth, situations arise (more commonly than you think) where the mother needs to be hospitalized at some point during the pregnancy (e.g., me for 5 weeks), is to physically ill to function (e.g., my bff vomited every day until she gave birth), or needs to be on bedrest (e.g., numerous friends). You can stroll into work before, during, and after the birth, if you want.

Also, you have the luxury of hiding a pregnancy if you think it will be detrimental to your career. Pregnant women have to contend with the issue of negative perceptions if they are not having the baby "at the right point" in their career.

Not to mention the ticking clock issue is not a problem for the guys.

It is not the same experience for men and women.

 

[WisNeuro]

Oh, I never equated the process for each, just that we are not wholly absent from the process. I am planning on taking full advantage of my FMLA in this process.

 

[starsinnight]

To the original poster, I've done some (informal) research about pregnancy during internship year (I know it's not the same as post-doc/fellowship but hopefully the same rules apply) and from my understanding, your site has to be/ideally should be accomodating. This means they should extend your time so that you can finish up your full amount of hours. As long as you are on good terms with them and explain the situation, they hopefully will do this for both interns and post-docs. With your delivery due at the end of your post-doc though is where it gets tricky because technically you could just call it a day and get out of there if you have enough hours. But if you don't, they should hopefully let you return when you are ready to complete your last 6 weeks. Atleast I'd hope so.

As for those of you asking when is the right time, I agree with erg -- excessive planning does take the fun out of it. My best friend just took 2 years of trying to conceive to actually conceive. My 3 month "window" of perfect timing disappeared due to too much stress of applications/family planning. Now I'm just in the mindset that it's never going to be the "right time" so let's just see what happens, if it happens it happens.