Leave of abscence

[flamingelephants]

I was wondering if anyone has had prior experience in taking a year of absence and the policies behind that (length, documentation/reasons for such a leave). Thanks everyone.

[rmorelan]

I was wondering if anyone has had prior experience in taking a year of absence and the policies behind that (length, documentation/reasons for such a leave). Thanks everyone.

 

sure, what would you like to know? Usual reasons are health or academic (you can for instance go out and get a masters mid degree at many places.)

 

I think the impact of it really depends on why you are doing it and of course what program/specialty you are ultimately trying to get into

[flamingelephants]

I'm interested in pediatrics/internal/potentially psyc or neuro at this point. I'm having some health issues but also have family with health issues back home. I am finding it difficult to cope with these extraneous worries, without my usual support network-SO&family and friends are home as well, and feel that it will impact my performance in school if it has not done so already.

 

I was optimistically hoping for transfers to be possible but as that is unlikely, I was wondering if I would have sufficient reasons for a leave of absence. I would not be opposed to taking further education/doing research at the university closer to home for a year or two if that would support my request for a leave. At this point in my life, I feel that I need to be present for my family and require social supports for myself in order to be an effective student. I am not in a time crunch to receive an MD as I am young, but I also know it is difficult to gain admission to the program and do not want to throw this opportunity away due to these hardships through withdrawal.

 

I would appreciate any advice.

[Lactic Folly]

I know people who have taken leaves of absence for health (including mental) issues and gone onto residency without obvious problems. Definitely speak to your office of student affairs.

[rmorelan]

I'm interested in pediatrics/internal/potentially psyc or neuro at this point. I'm having some health(as well as mental health) issues but also have family with health issues back home. I am finding it difficult to cope with these extraneous worries, without my usual support network-SO&family and friends are home as well, and feel that it will impact my performance in school if it has not done so already.

 

I was optimistically hoping for transfers to be possible but as that is unlikely, I was wondering if I would have sufficient reasons for a leave of absence. I would not be opposed to taking further education/doing research at the university closer to home for a year or two if that would support my request for a leave. At this point in my life, I feel that I need to be present for my family and require social supports for myself in order to be an effective student. I am not in a time crunch to receive an MD as I am young, but I also know it is difficult to gain admission to the program and do not want to throw this opportunity away due to these hardships through withdrawal.

 

I would appreciate any advice.

 

side note there is no difference between physical health issues and mental health issues. There a only a health issue that needs to be addressed.

 

I would say go for it if you think it would help as Lactic Folly says your student affairs team will be powerful allies in all of this and you should be seeking their help/advice if you haven't already. See what they say and go from there. Probably in the end would be needing some sort of definite timeline though - a year or two might go down as rather vague and they need to organize in advance.

[Jochi1543]

It's fairly easy to take leave if you can do it neatly within a semester or an academic year, and it's easier in preclerkship. It's tougher if you want to take, say, two months in the middle of clerkship somewhere, because it's so hard to shuffle students around. However, a year is pretty easy to set up. A friend took a year off because a parent was diagnosed with a terminal illness and it was simple to arrange and hasn't affected her in the match AFAIK.

 

Also, don't feel like you're less of a person because you take leave or whatever. Even if you are not enduring some sort of tragedy, like the death of a parent or spouse, the process of going through undergrad + med school is a long one, and it's unreasonable to expect a person to never face any sort of personal or health issues over the course of an entire decade. **** happens to everyone at some point.

[Leon]

I know at least one person from my class on leave. It seems to be a pretty straightforward process as long as you have a justifiable reason.