Average length of parental leave in FM

[hamburgler2000]

I know residents are entitled to 1 year of parental leave. I was wondering if most FM residents actually take this, or if there is pressure to take less time? 

[larva]

I'm taking a year, and if anything was encouraged to! I know a couple of people who took less, but it was totally their choice. 

[ralk]

Nothing wrong with taking a full year. Found my FM program's been quite flexible when it comes to parental leave, accommodating whatever worked best for the resident. Most people I know taking parental leave took less than a full year, but that was by choice. A few things to keep in mind though. First, when it comes to finances, check out the top-up programs from your provincial resident agreement - Ontario's EI top-up through PARO expires after 6 months I believe. Second, if you're currently on-cycle, taking less than a year of parental leave can throw you off-cycle, meaning you'll be finishing residency at a time other than July 1st. This can impact things like +1s. Usually isn't a major issue in FM, since +1 programs tend to be a bit more flexible on start dates than fellowships in other fields, and there's always the option to simply work as a full FM physician until a +1 starts, but it's something to at least be aware of when planning parental leave!

[Birdy]

I'll be delivering in September (I'm sure my program was *super* thrilled to find out that the only woman in their incoming year is going to be too pregnant to take call by July 1st, heh) and I'm planning to take 6 months off, which will be paid at 84%. This is for two reasons; one is that I'll be the primary breadwinner and dropping to 55% of my pay for that second half of a year would be a headache, and two is that I've taken two year-long mat leaves before with my older two kids and while I adore my children, a year home with an infant is too long for me.  The one week off I had with the youngest was not sufficient, though. 

This will throw me off-cycle, and I'm considering the possibility of doing a +1, possibly EM most of which do not allow off-cycle starts. If I do go that route, I'll likely just locum for six months - which isn't too hard as an FM - before starting the PGY-3 year. Several other PGY3 programs allow off-cycle starts. 

 

 

[rmorelan]

40 minutes ago, Birdy said:

I'll be delivering in September (I'm sure my program was *super* thrilled to find out that the only woman in their incoming year is going to be too pregnant to take call by July 1st, heh) and I'm planning to take 6 months off, which will be paid at 84%. This is for two reasons; one is that I'll be the primary breadwinner and dropping to 55% of my pay for that second half of a year would be a headache, and two is that I've taken two year long mat leaves before with my older two kids and while I adore my children, a year home with an infant is too long for me.  The one week off I had with the youngest was not sufficient, though. 

This will throw me off-cycle, and I'm considering the possibility of doing a +1, possibly EM most of which do not allow off-cycle starts. If I do go that route, I'll likely just locum for six months - which isn't too hard as an FM - before starting the PGY-3 year. Several other PGY3 programs allow off-cycle starts. 

 

 

ha - large programs have to deal with this all the time. Only going to be out 2 mos of call really, and there are always other people moving in and out of mat leave. Not that you can of course time this perfectly but really residency overall is not a bad time for this sort of thing - you are paid with benefits, unlike med school or as a staff, and you aren't bumping things dramatically - like missing CARMS for instance or trying to make partner in a group but you aren't there. Plus you are 100% in the specialty of choice by that point

[Birdy]

2 minutes ago, rmorelan said:

ha - large programs have to deal with this all the time. Only going to be out 2 mos of call really, and there are always other people moving in and out of mat leave. Not that you can of course time this perfectly but really residency overall is not a bad time for this sort of thing - you are paid with benefits, unlike med school or as a staff, and you aren't bumping things dramatically - like missing CARMS for instance or trying to make partner in a group but you aren't there. Plus you are 100% in the specialty of choice by that point

My program doesn't have huge call requirements anyway, so that helps. Plus it's small, not based at a major academic centre, and fairly new so the staff are fairly habituated to not having residents. I already know they've dealt with quite a few parental leaves, so I'm sure this is not going to be a big deal for them. Residency is definitely the best time to have babies. Med school was not optimal, that's for sure. Works out in the end, but would not strongly recommend it. 

Definitely won't be having any more kids (ever) but even if I were planning to, I'd be trying to finish family building before being done residency, that's for sure. It's such a headache for staff!