RESIDENT PHYSICIAN LEAVE OF ABSENCE POLICY

GOAL:
To provide leaves of absence to Residents consistent with their status as employees of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital (“SBCH”), while complying with the requirements of the Specialty Board governing program in which the Resident is enrolled consistent with their status as students.

POLICY:
SBCH provides all employees with leaves as required by law. SBCH maintains separate leave of absence policies that are available to employees on the Cottage Health System portal. Residents are eligible for all leaves of absence on the same terms other employees of SBCH. However, the Specialty Boards governing the various programs impose limitations on the total amount of time that may be missed due to a leave of absence, and in some cases require that a the Residency be extended by a like amount of time to make up for the time lost while on leave. SBCH will comply with all such limitations imposed by the Specialty Boards.

PROCEDURE:
A Resident desiring a leave of absence should first determine whether SBCH has a policy under which the Resident might qualify for a leave. SBCH leave of absence policies are available on the CHS Portal. The Human Resources Department is available for consultation and assistant to Residents interested in locating the CHS leave policy that would be applicable to the Resident's specific situation.

If there is a CHS policy under which the Resident would qualify for a leave of absence, it is the responsibility of the Resident to comply with the requirements set forth in that policy to apply for a leave thereunder. The Human Resources Department is available to assist the Resident with the application process. SBCH maintains leave of absence policies covering medical leaves, pregnancy leaves, leaves to care for ill family members, parental leaves, military leaves, personal leaves, children's school activity leaves, domestic violence leaves, crime victim leaves, jury leaves, witness leaves and a variety of other leaves as required by law and otherwise.

When the application for a leave has been completed, the Resident, the Human Resources Department and the Director of the program in which the Resident is participating must coordinate to determine the effect that the proposed leave will have on the Resident's status within the program.

Radiology Residents are governed by the following requirement of the Amercian Board of Radiology: Within the required period of graduate medical education, the total such leave and vacation time may NOT exceed SIX CALENDAR WEEKS (30 working days) for residents in a program for one year, TWELVE CALENDAR WEEKS (60 working days) for resident in a program for two years, EIGHTEEN CALENDAR WEEKS (90 working days) for residents in a program for three years, or TWENTY FOUR CALENDAR WEEKS (120 working days) for a resident in a program for four years. If a longer leave of absence is granted, the required period of graduate medical education must be extended accordingly. The complete text of American Board of Radiology requirements regarding making up time missed due to leave of absence are available at www.apdr.org.

Surgical Residents are governed by the following requirement of the American Board of Surgery: American Board of Surgery mandates that residents must complete 48 out of 52 weeks of training each year. Thus, any time taken beyond four (4) weeks per year will have to be made up, and could result in the need to repeat an entire year of training. The complete text of American Board of Surgery requirements regarding making up time missed due to leave of absence are available at www.abs.org.

Internal Medicine Residents are governed by the following requirement of the American Board of Internal Medicine: The 36 months of full-time medical residency education: …(3) May include up to three months of leave for vacation time, parental leave, or illness. Vacation or other leave cannot be forfeited to reduce training time. The complete text of American Board of Internal Medicine requirements regarding making up time missed due to leave of absence are available at www.abim.org/cert/policiesim.

It is the responsibility of the Program Director to provide the Resident with a written confirmation of the effect the leave of absence will have on the Resident's status in the program, including whether the Resident's participation in the program will be extended and by how long. No particular form is mandated for this communication from the Program Director to the Resident, and it is possible that this communication will take place after the Resident has already begun the leave of absence.