Starting fellowship/residency on maternity leave??

[fiatslug]

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I'll have a 5-6 week old baby (and an 18 month old) on July 1st '08. I'm applying for fellowship and have told all the PDs that in an ideal world, I'd like to delay starting full-time until at least Aug 15th, and they've all been more or less cool with the time off. But from a HR perspective--can you actually start a fellowship (or residency, same idea) on paid maternity leave? I know in CA you have to have worked x amount of hours for the company before you can file for paid maternity leave (which is weird, since the state, not the company, pays the maternity disability--not sure if that's true in other states. In CA, your job is protected--the employer does continue to pay the cost of your benefits on maternity leave).

Anyone BTDT? The idea of moving (potentially & ideally out of state) with a newborn, a toddler, and no income is kind of terrifying. I'm the primary breadwinner in our family.👍

(And please, save the I-know-someone-who-scrubbed-into-a-liver-transplant-24-hours-after-delivering-her-baby stories🙄... I'd rather be a badass mom than a badass doctor any day)

 

[NotAProgDirector]

I think the answer is going to depend on the program.

Some programs will have STD insurance policies (Short Term Disability) to cover maternity leave. In that case, you'd have to actually work for some time before the policy would cover you.

Some programs will simply pay your salary without an inssurance policy. However, even in that case most programs will have some sort of a pre-emplyment medical screen -- if you "pass" then you can work, if you "fail" (due to your maternity leave) then you can't be hired.

Overall I think it's more likely that you'll end up with an LOA (unpaid) for any maternity time, but there is no harm in asking.