Residency interview while pregnant?

[Silvermist]

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Long story short, my spouse and I are thinking about adding to our family. I've been told I'm an excellent candidate for residency (grades, publications, leadership, clinical experience, etc etc). But this would make me visibly pregnant during residency interviews (which I know shouldn't matter in a perfect world that follows the law ... but this is the real world). Have you seen visibly pregnant interviewees before, and have they gotten residencies?

 

[KARM12]

We have interviewed and ranked a pregnant candidate in the past. Legally, this shouldn't be a factor in your decision as a program.

Doing a residency may be potentially difficult with small children. It can be done, but it takes an understanding partner. Certain programs may have more flexibility than others. I couldn't imagine doing a residency with a small child to take care of because of the time spent at the hospital. It has been done, though. Talk to A4MD, she did this successfully.

 

[All4MyDaughter]

We have interviewed and ranked a pregnant candidate in the past. Legally, this shouldn't be a factor in your decision as a program.

Doing a residency may be potentially difficult with small children. It can be done, but it takes an understanding partner. Certain programs may have more flexibility than others. I couldn't imagine doing a residency with a small child to take care of because of the time spent at the hospital. It has been done, though. Talk to A4MD, she did this successfully.

Not only did I interview for residency while visibly pregnant (no way to hide it), but I also got pregnant again halfway during residency, when my son was 9 months old. I won't lie. It was very difficult.

I did a non-hospital based residency. It was community/amb care, and the hours weren't that bad. But there were still long days and lots of home time spent on projects, prepping lectures, etc. It would have been impossible with my husband who is great with kids and very involved + has a flexible job.

I can elaborate if you have specific questions.

 

[ADN1226]

A student i know was 7 months pregnant going through residency interviews. She said it did come up a few times with questions regarding how she'd handle the difficulties of taking care of a newborn plus residency. She mentioned the great support she has with her family members living nearby and will help out when there are difficulties with residency. She did get a residency!

 

[All4MyDaughter]

A student i know was 7 months pregnant going through residency interviews. She said it did come up a few times with questions regarding how she'd handle the difficulties of taking care of a newborn plus residency. She mentioned the great support she has with her family members living nearby and will help out when there are difficulties with residency. She did get a residency!

Those types of questions are illegal/inappropriate, unless the candidate brings up the subject. I was pregnant, but didn't mention it or do anything to give the impression that it was up for discussion.

 

[xiphoid2010]

The real question is not if it's possible, but why can't it wait a year?

I was a resident, but my wife got pregnant 2 months into it by accident. Even that nearly burned me out, and I wasn't the one puking and being moody. I wasn't much of help to her at all working 70+ hr/wk as a resident. Luckily our son wasn't born until the last week of residency. Can't imagine what it would do to me if I had to wake up repeatedly during the 5-6 hr/day sleep that barely kept me going.

For a female resident, it's inevitable that both the childcare and residency quality will suffer. Ask yourself, if you were an interviewer, how would you rank a pregnant candidate vs a similar candidate who's not? So I hope there is some very compelling reasons why waiting a year is a worse option.

 

[BenJammin]

Those types of questions are illegal/inappropriate, unless the candidate brings up the subject. I was pregnant, but didn't mention it or do anything to give the impression that it was up for discussion.

Absolutely. There is no reason for them to question your ability to work while being pregnant or having a baby. At that point you should just walk out...no way are they going to rank you after asking that.

 

[Kenzi11611]

Long story short, my spouse and I are thinking about adding to our family. I've been told I'm an excellent candidate for residency (grades, publications, leadership, clinical experience, etc etc). But this would make me visibly pregnant during residency interviews (which I know shouldn't matter in a perfect world that follows the law ... but this is the real world). Have you seen visibly pregnant interviewees before, and have they gotten residencies?

I just started a residency last week and my worry about my 20 month old daughter is already pretty high. The hours are insane and I'm worried I'll never see her. My advice would be to wait until part way through residency to get pregnant. Going to school full time + working 20 hrs/week was cake compared to having a kid to care for. I'd rather be pregnant and a resident than a resident with a newborn. That's just my take.

 

[EBT12]

I am sure you already know this, but keep in mind that you can't always time everything perfectly. I thought that being pregnant during the last half of residency would work for me... but residency ended and there isn't a baby on the way yet. Yes, some people can time it well so that you deliver after rotations but before residency starts. But, if that doesn't quite work out, you might have to take a leave of absence. Because the program is only a year long (typically), I believe it is up to the individual program regarding how to handle missed time. You will not be eligible for FMLA because you will not have worked with the company for more than a year. At the end of the day, you have to decide what is best for your family, but there are many factors to consider.

When I was interviewing for post-residency positions, questions regarding family life did come up. I doubt some people realized they even brought it up. I was never asked whether I was pregnant or had children. However, some people did say things like "I know of a great day care/ school district, if that would be helpful." Having prepared a one line sentence to help transition the conversation back to the interview was helpful.

 

[Silvermist]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I really appreciate it! To clarify, I am married with 2 young kids right now and excellent family support (including retired relatives who willingly double as free nannies and a spouse with flex hours).

It can't wait a year because I'm already at the age where it will very soon start (if had hasn't yet already!) becoming progressively more difficult, and my relatives are at the age where they are currently willing to watch a 3rd child but they are hardly spring chickens themselves ... and as I want to do a PGY2, this would be pushing BOTH my biological clock as well as my relatives ages out quite a bit beyond what might be realistic or feasible.

A4MD, I do have a question! What kind of postpartum leave were you able to take, and did they just push your residency out by that many more weeks in order to complete it? Just wondering how that works!

EBT12, I wish you the best of luck!!! If you don't mind my asking, what was your one line sentence to help transition the conversation back to the interview?

Also ... if it DOES come up in an interview (clearly illegal!), any advice on how to handle that (besides walking out)? Too direct to say "it's illegal to ask me that"?

 

[All4MyDaughter]

My residency started almost exactly six weeks after I gave birth. The program offered to let me push back my start date, but I didn't want to. I just went ahead and started.

As far as illegal interview questions, you can choose to answer them truthfully and hope for the best, if you want. I know some people feel they wouldn't want to work somewhere that wasn't family friendly anyway. If you don't want to answer them, you can just say, "I'd prefer to discuss my qualifications/CV/etc" and hope they move on.

 

[Silvermist]

Ahhh ... I like it!! Thanks A4MD =)