Dermatoethics consultationParental leave in dermatology residency: Ethical considerations
Section snippets
Discussion
According to the ABD, maternity leave in dermatology residency must be taken from 14 weeks of leave allotted to residents over 3 years. For example, if a resident chooses to take 6 weeks of maternity leave, she could accomplish this by using all of her allotted vacation time for the year (4 weeks), plus using all 10 of her emergency sick days. If a resident has already used her vacation or wishes to extend her leave further, she must delay her graduation to make up this time. The ABD also
Bottom line
Residents face a difficult choice in deciding when to begin a family and may feel pressure to delay childbearing. In our opinion, the current system for taking parental leave may discourage residents from starting families. Although program directors do have discretion to allow greater leave without delaying graduation or boards for residents with above average performance, current ABD policy limits total leave to 14 weeks, including vacation time. Given that the typical vacation allowance is 3
References (9)
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Position paper on family or personal leave, including pregnancy, during residency
J Am Acad Dermatol
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Funding sources: None.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.