maternity leave?

[Blondbondgirl]

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Hi-
I am an American and am still in med school (in Germany) but trying to decide whether to do my residency in the States or in Germany. One of the big factors is family life.

Here, you get up to 3 years maternity leave/child plus the right to work part time (whether 50%, 75%, whatever) as a mother OR a father (yes, as a resident!!!)
I have heard that in the States you have to go back to 110% 8 weeks after the birth of each child and that you could maybe work out a 3 day/week schedule once residency is over (i.e. you join a group practice or whatever) otherwise, forget it.

Are there any mom residents out there who took off more than 8 weeks? (I don't plan on taking off 3 years even if I stay but I am just curious) and more importantly (for me), is there anyone out there who works only part-time? (even if it's after residency but in a clinical setting rather than a practice setting)?

Thanks!
🙂

 

[Winged Scapula]

Hi-
I am an American and am still in med school (in Germany) but trying to decide whether to do my residency in the States or in Germany. One of the big factors is family life.

You didn't mention it, but the BIGGEST factor should be where you can work once you finish residency. Many US Boards do not accept training done abroad; therefore, before you decide to train in Germany, if you ever have any desire to work in the US in your chosen specialty, you'd better figure out if its possible (I wanted to stay in Australia and work here as well, until I realized I could not be Board Certified without doing residency here).

Same goes if you decide to come here for residency and then return to Germany; make sure its possible.

I have heard that in the States you have to go back to 110% 8 weeks after the birth of each child and that you could maybe work out a 3 day/week schedule once residency is over (i.e. you join a group practice or whatever) otherwise, forget it.

You are allowed 12 weeks for FMLA leave. Whether or not you choose to take it is a different matter. There are LOTS of threads here about the problems of taking a lot of time off during residency (its not very welcomed by your colleagues). As for post-residency, you can find jobs that are part time depending on your specialty, but it can be difficult in some fields.

Also bear in mind the difficulties in keeping up your skills if you take a lot of time off...it has to be verified by license bureaus, boards, etc.

 

[Blondbondgirl]

I appreciate your input and yes, I know that I can't practice in the US without a residency here (though it works the other way around)- however I could always do research...

To be honest, it is a complicated decision that my husband and I have to make before I have to apply for residencies in either Germany or the US, ultimately deciding our fate for the next 20-30 years.... (again, unless I am open for research-only in the states)

Well, we still have 2.5 years to think about it...🙂

 

[yadayadadude]

If you haven't already stumbled on it, www.mommd.com is a very useful resource.

Out of curiosity, if you work part time as a resident in Germany, they must extend your training period, right?

 

[Wednesday]

Hugely complex question. Depends on specialty and program and each one varies. Larger programs tend to be nicer to people taking time off, because you don't have the same coverage issues. Depending on the specialty, it could matter a lot or not very much. In surgery you will likely have more of a problem than in psychiatry, for example. In my psychiatry program we have several pregnant people and the program has been very open to working with them. One person is taking 5 months off and then will be part time. There is a third year who is basically doing two third years so she can be part time for both. Our program is very large, so we don't have huge coverage issues. We don't get paid for maternity leave, however, which can be a problem for people. You would likely be able to take a year off if you couldn't go part time, once you were in the program and they had an investment in you. Seems like a strange thing to decide the country you will live in though. I would imagine that there are larger considerations to your Germany vs US decision. Plenty of people have kids in residency and it works out.

 

[Blondbondgirl]

Thanks for the website heads-up and yes, residency is then extended.

Wednesday, I don't think it's an odd question at all. I know plenty of people have kids in residency and it "works out", but everyone has different expectations. I have been looking through the old threads-one of my main questions was whether one could work part-time as a resident. So far, no one has affirmed this.
My husband and I are very family-oriented and I personally want to be there for my kids and be a doctor (a surgical specialty, specifically).
I have NOTHING against people who choose full-time daycare, but
1-that is not for me
2-psych and FM are great and all, but I want to be a surgeon! and it seems like in the states, I would have to choose medicine and not see my kids till I am an attending whereas in Germany, I can have both! Yes, I am a resident longer, but it is worth it to me to be there.

 

[yadayadadude]

So if you do a part time residency in a surgical subspecialty, it takes, what?, 10 years to become a urologist? Yikes.

I've never heard of anyone doing a part time residency in surgery in the US. Doesn't mean it's never happened, but I'd guess it's a very-rare-to-never kind of deal here.

 

[Wednesday]

Didn't mean to offend. I guess some people make a specialty choice based on wanting to be there for their family (I recently switched from a surgical specialty to psych, which is actually pretty great) and some people choose which country to live in. I think that taking into account what type of parent you want to be is very important and commendable since not many people do it. I would advise you to think about what your life will be like as an attending in a surgical specialty as well, because it doesn't all fix itself once you're out. In fact it can get worse, at least in the US because you go from 80 hours a week to unlimited. (Maybe in Germany it does though, I obviously don't know). I always encourage students to ask specific questions to attendings, what do they mean when they say "I have plenty of time for my family" or "I know someone who has the perfect job and has all the time in the world to spend with his/her family" (the question for this person would be, where does that person live and how long did it take them to find this "perfect" job). And is it possible to make a living working half time (taking into account malpractice, etc). Unfortunately "having it all" is pretty hard. There will always be sacrifices. Perhaps working and living in Germany (and not in the US) will be yours. There are worse things. 🙂 Good luck.