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The General Surgery Program believes in the wellness of its residents and makes every effort to help satisfy this priority. Part of wellness is time away from the residency. Please note that the Program has three governing time away policies it abides by: The University of Minnesota Policy, the Graduate Medical Education Policy, and the American Board of Surgery Policy, each becoming progressively stricter in allowed time away. It is especially important to note that residents deciding to take additional non-clinical time away as stated within the UMN or GME time away guideline policies (more days than the American Board of Surgery time away policy allows) will extend their training in the Program. Extending time requires advanced approval from the American Board of Surgery and communication between the resident and Program Director.
Time Away and Rotation Schedule for the academic year is submitted in advance according to the schedule listed above. The Program Administrator will initiate and communicate these requests per cohort level. Each cohort will work with each other to set up their rotation and time away schedule for the upcoming academic year. Cohort requests submitted by the due date will be granted according to availability and seniority.
Beginning May 13, 2025, remaining vacation blocks are granted on a first-come, first-served basis with consideration to service coverage and rotation call schedules.
Blackout periods, there will be no leave allowed during the period between:
Holiday Time Away, December 16-January 5
ABS In-Training Examination, January 20 to February 2
End of the Year 2025, June 16-30
PGY-4/5 Mock Orals, Last FULL Week of September and February
Plastics PGY-1: First week of March (In-Training Exam)
Rotations
PGY-1 UMMC Night Float & Regions Night Float
PGY-2 UMMC Night Float
PGY-3 Regions Night Float
Additional rotation and time away considerations:
PGY-2 and PGY-5 Regions ACS and PGY-2 and PGY-1 TACS are considered one rotation when approving time off
PGY-2 residents must take the SICU rotation before the UMMC night rotation
PGY-3 rural track residents must participate in Rising PGY-4 Summer School, the Tuesday-Thursday of graduation week. They will take vacation time for three days after this 3-day course to accommodate for their transition to Duluth, MN. They will begin their Rural Track rotations the Monday following.
PGY-3 Rural Track Residents must not take a nights rotation during their last block to alleviate coverage gaps when participating in Rising PGY-4 Summer School and relocating to Duluth.
PGY 4 and PGY 5 are not allowed to take the same week of vacation while at the same site
PGY-2s cannot start at Essentia, must be considered an open block
Prelim residents should not take vacation during SOAP week
Prelim residents will take their last vacation week as the last week of the academic year
American Board of Surgery Requirements for Time in Training
In general, the ABS requires 48 weeks of full-time clinical activity in each of the five years of residency, regardless of the amount of operative experience obtained.
ABS requirements include:
To comply with the ABS requirements, residents are allocated per year:
Three weeks/year for vacation
Optional three days for Holiday Time Away
Two days counted toward resident’s accounted-for non-clinical time
Recorded in New Innovations (RMS) as vacation
One day counted as resident’s one-in-seven day off (not counted toward non-clinical time away)
Additional days as needed for sick leave, interviews, conference presentations, family leave, etc.
Please speak with Program Director if in need of further clarification
All time away from clinical activity (i.e., non-clinical time), including vacation and time taken for interviews, visa issues, etc., must be accounted for on the application for board certification, and cannot total more than five working days per year.
UMN General Surgery Time Away Leave Policy
Vacation is taken in one-week blocks only, Monday – Sunday, and must be taken during each of the four-month periods:
July 6-October 26
October 27-February 22
February 23-June 14
Residents must submit all time away requests using the Time Away Form (linked) and will be approved if the Resident has days available and the service and on-call schedule are covered.
Unused one-week vacation blocks in a four-month period do not carry forward.
Time away greater than seven days may be taken under special circumstances (e.g., marriage, overseas travel, etc.) with a maximum of 14 consecutive days.
Time must be split between the end of one rotation and the beginning of another.
Program director approval is required.
At a minimum, outside of the Time Away and Rotation Schedule listed above, time away requests must be submitted by the last working day of the month two months prior to the intended month of vacation, ex. May 31 is the last date to submit for a July vacation. We encourage Residents to plan ahead so as not to lose allowed days.
For compliance of the Duty Hour Restrictions, as outlined by the ACGME, our program will maintain a minimum of one-in-four call for all residents whenever possible. These criteria may result in leave request denials.
Any exceptions to this policy are reviewed on an individual basis.
Academic Leave/Travel during Clinical Years
The Department of Surgery does not provide funds for resident travel outside of the research years.
Travel requirements are as follows:
Acceptance of abstract or presentation
First author of abstract presentation
Residents asking for academic leave to attend a meeting in which no paper/poster is presented will be allowed to attend under special circumstances and at the initial discretion of the program director.
BEFORE registering for the meeting and booking airline reservations:
Residents need PRIOR written approval by primary mentor with form: UM Form 1649 Authorization to Travel completed by resident listing all anticipated costs and obtaining both the signature and chart string to fund the conference from the primary mentor, senior author, or another faculty member.
WRITTEN TIME AWAY (linked) approval must be granted by the Residency Administrator
Residents must use their unused non-clinical time available or their weekly one-in-seven day off for this time away. All time away follows ABS time away policies.
If travel is outside of the country, residents will need to be registered through UMN International Travel Registry.
Travelers should use the University's preferred travel suppliers whenever possible. For a list of preferred suppliers visit the Travel Services website (requires UMN log-in)
Expense reimbursement in Chrome River will require UM Form 1649 Authorization to Travel along with documented time away approval.
Without these required documentations, expenses will be denied
American Board of Surgery: Family Leave
Effective as of the 2021-2022 academic year and thereafter, as allowed by their programs, residents may take documented leave to care for a new child, whether for the birth, the adoption, or placement of a child in foster care; to care for a seriously ill family member (spouse, son, daughter, or parent); or to recover from the resident’s own serious illness.
Residents may take an additional 4 weeks off during the first 3 years of residency, for a total of 140 weeks required, and an additional 4 weeks off during the last 2 years of residency, for a total of 92 weeks required. Note: This is an ABS policy only and should not be confused with family leave as permitted by the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). No approval is needed for this option if taken as outlined.
Communication between the resident and the Program Director is required in order to accommodate such requests.
Holiday Time Away
As an option and if the resident has enough unused non-clinical time available, between the dates of December 24 and January 1, the program will arrange for residents to have three days off. One of these days will count against up to one of the one-in-seven days off during the rotation period. Holidays that occur during a leave of absence run concurrent with the leave and are NOT in addition to the leave.
Flexible Time Off Policy
Per the ACGME common program requirements, residents must be given the opportunity to attend medical, mental health, and dental care appointments, including those scheduled during their working hours. The Program fully endorses this requirement and advocates for this opportunity to all of its residents. The Residency also acknowledges that scheduling can be difficult for appointments that require future scheduling as work schedules can vary per service. Due to this, the Program has implemented a way to help with this often difficult situation.
We will be piloting a flexible time off system over the course of the 2025-2026 academic year.
U of MN Graduate Medical Education Policy:
Residents and fellows (trainees) are eligible for the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA). Trainees must check with their department/program to determine if they qualify.
Leave shall not exceed 12 weeks in any 12-month period. The 12-month period is based on an academic year (07/01-06/30). The trainee may qualify for Short Term and Long Term Disability benefits.
Please refer to the Office of Human Resources website for further information:
https://hub.med.umn.edu/resident-fellow-administration/leave-absence
https://humanresources.umn.edu/benefits/vacations-and-leaves#anchor-bereavement
https://humanresources.umn.edu/benefits/vacations-and-leaves#anchor-fmla
The Program is in full support of residents who need to take additional time off under FMLA. We will work with the resident, UMN GME, ACGME and the ABS to to extend training as needed and to apply for disability coverage for possible salary support during FMLA time away.
Specific case Parental Leave:
Non-clinical time may be used for parental leave, but must be in compliance with the ABS requirements regarding the number of weeks of clinical activity required per year of residency (http://www.absurgery.org/default.jsp?policygsleave). If a resident would like to carry over non-clinical time from one year to the next per the board’s policy, approval must be obtained from the Program Director.
Program Responsibility
Programs are responsible for tracking time off for all leaves to ensure that specialty board requirements are met prior to graduation from the program.
Programs must work with their trainees to report all leaves in the Residency Management Suite (RMS) according to instructions received by MMCGME Services. Programs must also forward documentation to MMCGME Services for leaves that extend the trainee’s time in the program.
Please note:
Residents deciding to take additional non-clinical time outside of the ABS allowed time away, as listed above, would extend their training in the Program. Extending time requires advanced approval from the American Board of Surgery and communication between the resident and Program Director.
Any exceptions to this policy are reviewed on an individual basis. Please see Program Director for clarification.
Date Approved: February 2025, Surgical Education Council
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