Maternity leave/Year off between 1 and 2 year?

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marinismile

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Hi,
I am conisdering having a baby between my intern and 2nd year of psychiatry residency. How feasable is it? How much time is usually allowed for leave? Is it possible to have an extended leave of around 6months? How difficult is it to take a leave of absence for a year?

Would appreciate any advice.

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You can basically take as much time as you want (within reason). Problem is, you'll have to make up that time at the end. So, if you are allotted 4 weeks vacation/year by your residency, you can save it, take those 4 weeks as vacation, then take another 5 months maternity. But, you'll have to make up those 5 months at the end of residency, effectively meaning you're not eligible for some fellowships unless you're willing to wait to be off-cycle.
 
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A variation on this topic... I'm sure this varies from program to program but how much time do you actually have to make up?? I'm curious to hear how this works at other programs. So let's say a woman gets the standard 6 or 8 weeks of maternity leave... how much does training have to be extended to make up for the leave at other places? I'm interested specifically in child & adolescent programs. I know some adult programs allow the resident to still graduate on time assuming all educational requirements are met, but since child training is only 2 years I'm wondering how it's different.

Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks folks!!

:D
 
if anyone has any info on how they obtained their longer than 6 wk leave for pregnancy, i would love to know how you did it and which laws protect us in doing so.
thanks...:confused:
 
if anyone has any info on how they obtained their longer than 6 wk leave for pregnancy, i would love to know how you did it and which laws protect us in doing so.
thanks...:confused:

FMLA, and you could get up to 12 weeks leave in total according to it (though this may include your sick leave, vacation etc). Or, you could just take a year out - provided your program is happy with it. I do not think there is any law that "protects" you in this respect, though - more of a negotiation matter.
 
I think you can take leave for more than 6 weeks, but 6 weeks is the limit that a program will pay for (i.e. the rest is unpaid leave).
 
It's been done. Totally depends on the family-friendliness of your residency.

Exactly. There are specific legal guidelines on how much time you can take off, but depending on the program, they can do certain things to make your life easier or hell depending on their attitude with pregnant residents.

I know one program where a medical resident was made to come back to work, covering the floor (a job which requires you to be on your feet at all times). She was still incontinent, yet the program director forced her back. It was to the point where the other residents in the hospital had to do extra work to cover for her. I know of another program where the PD pretty much let the new mom take as much time as she wanted off, and she exploited it--taking off much more time than most people thought she needed.

As we all know, while there are several programs following ACGME guidelines to protect residents, several do not, nor will those programs openly declare they are not following them.
 
Hi,
I am conisdering having a baby between my intern and 2nd year of psychiatry residency. How feasable is it? How much time is usually allowed for leave? Is it possible to have an extended leave of around 6months? How difficult is it to take a leave of absence for a year?

Would appreciate any advice.

Please remember that you cannot time exactly when that baby will come, either. You cannot rely on an exact plan of "getting pregnant in month X and having baby in month Y." I am going through this same issue right now, trying to "plan out" a pregnancy during the residency, but often things do not go exactly as planned (pregnancy loss, complications, bedrest, etc.)
As far as the FMLA, it is my understanding that you must be employed at your program for >12 months to be eligible to take any additional leave other than what you have for combined vacation/sick time. This would mean not having a baby until after the start of PGY-2. Can anyone comment on this? I will be at a state University program starting in June.
 
And what about the need/requirement of extending training...??? Anybody have anything to offer re: this piece of the puzzle?

Thanks!
 
And what about the need/requirement of extending training...??? Anybody have anything to offer re: this piece of the puzzle?

Thanks!

Basically, you have to have a certain number of months in certain categories to graduate as board-eligible. If you can't make it in 4 straight years, you tack them on the end and finish up in August, September, December, what have you... It happens frequently in our program for various reasons. (3 of our 5 "graduates" this June are hanging out for 1-4 months.) It's not a huge deal. It could mess up your calendar for starting a fellowship, but I've seen fellowships flex a month or two also.

Remember, you're not dealing with high school students any more--we're all adults now, with adult lives and complications. Reasonable people work things out.
 
yes i may be incorrect but if you are put on bedrest/have medical complications, it may come out of your 4mo pregnancy disability leave which makes up part of the 6 mo (mostly unpaid) allotted leave extended by law to all...also, i do believe you have to have 12 mo under your belt to get FMLA. who knows how flexible your program is, maybe they could work something out for you. dont bet on it tho, i thought mine was a little bit more flexible...
 
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