Leaves of Absence

Taking a temporary leave from your medical practice can give you time and capacity to manage challenges in your personal life or pursue endeavours beyond traditional clinical practice.

Planning your temporary leave strategically will enable you to make the most of your time away from practice while ensuring your patients have continuous access to care.

Common kinds of temporary leaves

• Medical leave: A physician takes medical leave when they are ill or undergoing treatment that prevents them from fulfilling their duties. Medical leave for physicians typically involves weeks, months, or years of absence from work rather than days.
• Parental leave: Doctors of BC offers physicians up to 17 weeks of paid leave through the Parental Leave Program, and new parents may extend their absence by taking additional unpaid leave.
• Leave of absence or unpaid leave: This form of leave encompasses circumstances that justify a physician taking a temporary break from their professional duties. Unpaid leave enables physicians to pursue humanitarian work, care for a loved one, or seek personal enrichment while maintaining their professional standing.

Planning for temporary leave

• Plan as far in advance as possible.
• If you are experiencing feelings of guilt or shame, know that this is common. Contact the Physician Health Program (PHP) for support.
• Remember, leaves of absence can be crucial to your well being.
• If you must initiate your leave of absence suddenly, planning will need to occur after your leave begins.

Workplace considerations

• Consider recruiting a locum to provide coverage, or asking fellow colleagues. If you are in a group practice, check the policy on equitable cross-coverage.
• Help with business concerns can be discussed with a regional Business Advisor before taking a leave.

Financial considerations

• Before a leave, assess your financial situation and identify how you will cover upcoming bills.
• Speak with an accountant and financial planner to develop a plan for the duration of the leave. This may include claiming insurance or withdrawing savings or RSPs if your annual income allows.
• Rural physicians on a maternity, parental, or medical leave of absence may be eligible for up to one year of continued rural benefits and should consult the Rural Retention Program (RRP) requirements prior to taking the leave. Learn about the RRP policy framework.

Insurance coverage

• Ensure you have adequate insurance and continue to pay the fees, so your plan doesn’t lapse.
• Determine if your plans provide adequate coverage for your changing cost of living requirements.
• Thoroughly review and understand your insurance policies, including coverage, waiting periods, reimbursement processes, and exclusions. Note that early enrollment in insurance programs often mitigates cost and potential limitations in coverage.

Key types of insurance to consider

• Disability insurance is critical; it protects against income loss during periods when you cannot work. If your disability insurance lapses, any disease you have at the time you reapply will not be covered. It can often be advantageous to have more than one disability insurance plan. The Doctors of BC Physician Disability Insurance Plan is free for physicians.
• Professional expense insurance covers overhead expenses and staff salaries when you're on medical leave. Although no physician wants to need professional expense insurance or any other kind of insurance, having it when needed can be life-changing.
• Life insurance is especially important if you are supporting dependents.

For more information on these types of insurance and others, or to review your coverage, you can speak to one of our Insurance Advisors.

College notification and licence requirements

• Notify the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC when taking a temporary leave. Prior notification is required but is situation dependent. For more personalized information, contact the College or the Physician Health Program.
• The College of Physicians and Surgeons provides information on temporarily inactive license status for health and parental leaves, as well as out of province status.
• Learn more about taking time away.

Plan your return to work

• When considering when to return to work and at what pace, keep in mind that it’s different for everyone.
• Create a return-to-work plan to provide structure to you and your colleagues and minimize the chance of relapse.
• Seek support from the Physician Health Program.

Reactivating your licence

Contact the Health Monitoring Department of the College to discuss your return to work if you inactivated your licence temporarily. During that discussion the deputy registrar and the health monitoring team will want to see a return-to-work plan and letters of support from your treating team.