Maternity leave halfway through intern year?

[enantio1988]

Hey everyone, apologies in advance if this is somewhat of a dumb question but truly don't know the answer to this despite searching! I was wondering if anyone knows what the general policy is on taking maternity leave during intern year. If my baby's due date is halfway through intern year, do most programs allow you to take the second half of intern year off to take care of a baby, is it only a few weeks? This would help my spouse and me coordinate best timing of when I should get pregnant. Thanks in advance!

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[rokshana]

Hey everyone, apologies in advance if this is somewhat of a dumb question but truly don't know the answer to this despite searching! I was wondering if anyone knows what the general policy is on taking maternity leave during intern year. If my baby's due date is halfway through intern year, do most programs allow you to take the second half of intern year off to take care of a baby, is it only a few weeks? This would help my spouse and me coordinate best timing of when I should get pregnant. Thanks in advance!

FMLA will give you 12 weeks of maternity leave...that is 3 months...doubt you can get a full 6 months off, but every program is different. Have you talked to your PD? If not, you should ASAP!
If you are not pregnant, then intern year is probably not the best time to plan a pregnancy...end of 2nd or 3rd year will not be as intense a schedule (more elective time).

 

[physicsnerd42]

State law specifies that women get 6 weeks after a vaginal delivery and 8 weeks after a c-section where I am, so that’s what residents get. I haven’t really heard of people taking more time because you have to extend residency for taking too much time off (that’s a specialty-specific requirement governed by the national specialty boards). I’ve never heard of anyone taking six months off and taking a six month gap while an intern seems like it would be hard for your learning.

Also, I thought FMLA didn’t apply until you had been an employee for a year, so that could make things difficult for an extended leave.


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[gutonc]

It will depend on the state and the program. Recognize that FMLA only goes into effect after 12 months with an employer. Some states have shorter working requirements to qualify that supersede the federal rules. The ADA requires your employer to give you your job back after any qualifying medical leave (of which pregnancy is one) but they don't have to pay you for it.

In the case you cite, you are probably going to get the time off if that is what you choose to do, but you are also likely to have to repeat most/all of intern year when you come back. And you definitely won't get paid for more than a short fraction of that time.

 

[rokshana]

State law specifies that women get 6 weeks after a vaginal delivery and 8 weeks after a c-section where I am, so that’s what residents get. I haven’t really heard of people taking more time because you have to extend residency for taking too much time off (that’s a specialty-specific requirement governed by the national specialty boards). I’ve never heard of anyone taking six months off and taking a six month gap while an intern seems like it would be hard for your learning.

Also, I thought FMLA didn’t apply until you had been an employee for a year, so that could make things difficult for an extended leave.


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depends on the program and the state, but some places will allow, or even insist, you take FMLA if the leave is more than a week (mine did when i had to have knee surgery as a 1st year fellow).

 

[Raryn]

Hey everyone, apologies in advance if this is somewhat of a dumb question but truly don't know the answer to this despite searching! I was wondering if anyone knows what the general policy is on taking maternity leave during intern year. If my baby's due date is halfway through intern year, do most programs allow you to take the second half of intern year off to take care of a baby, is it only a few weeks? This would help my spouse and me coordinate best timing of when I should get pregnant. Thanks in advance!

This is going to be extremely dependant depending on the program, university, state, and partially specialty. 4 weeks is typically doable everywhere - but if you still want to graduate on schedule, they may require you to take no other days off that year, no vacation, no sick leave, nothing else. Otherwise, the individual specialty board rules will mandate any time not working be tacked on to the end of residency - delaying your end date and possibly making any fellowship plans a year later.

If you're OK not graduating on schedule or you're in a more flexible specialty (psychiatry programs are often more flexible for example - I don't know the rules for most of the 20+ initial certifying boards so don't ask who else is), 6 or 8 weeks is often reasonable but may or may not be paid.

Taking half the year off I've only ever heard of in a few select cases where the mother (resident) had significant medical complications during the course of the pregnancy, culminating in a prolonged hospitalization. Not saying it is impossible, but taking that much time off will >90% chance require that it be made up at the end - and for a significant proportion of programs would probably delay your graduation by a full year.