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 Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 6:02 pm
Yahoo! News linkRemember this story from a while back? razz Quote: BOSTON - A Harvard student must be allowed extra break time during her nine-hour medical licensing exam so she can pump breast milk to feed her 4-month-old daughter, a Massachusetts appeals court judge ruled Wednesday. Sophie Currier, 33, sued after the National Board of Medical Examiners turned down her request to take more than the standard 45 minutes in breaks during the exam. Currier said she risks medical complications if she does not nurse her daughter, Lea, or pump breast milk every two to three hours. A Superior Court judge last week rejected Currier's request to order the board to give her an additional 60 minutes of break time. Appeals Court Judge Gary Katzmann overturned that ruling, finding that Currier needs the break time to put her on "equal footing" with the men and non-lactating women who take the exam. "I think it's a big step for women, all nursing and working moms," Currier said. The board had cited a need to be consistent in the amount of break time given and said other nursing mothers who have taken the exam found 45 minutes sufficient. But Katzmann said that amount of break time was "insufficient" for Currier to nurse her baby, properly express breast milk, eat, drink and use the restroom over the course of the nine-hour exam. Without extra time, Currier would have to choose between pumping breast milk and ignoring her bodily functions or foregoing pumping and causing herself significant pain, the judge said. "Under either avenue, (Currier) is placed at significant disadvantage in comparison to her peers," Katzmann wrote in his 26-page ruling. The board plans to appeal, board attorney Joseph Savage said. The board, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit corporation, is responsible for administering the test, which is used by boards of medicine across the country to license physicians. "The board of medicine has to be able to rely on the results of these tests in determining whether someone is qualified to be a physician," Savage said. "If the tests aren't fair and comparable, the boards don't have the information they need to only license doctors who are properly trained." Currier already has received special accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act for dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, including permission to take the test over two days instead of one. The board also offered her a separate testing room where she can express milk during the test or during break time, and the option to leave the test center to breast-feed during break times. Currier has finished a joint M.D.-Ph.D. program at Harvard University while having two babies in the past two years. She has been offered a residency in clinical pathology at Massachusetts General Hospital beginning in November but cannot accept it unless she passes the test. Her goal is a career in medical research. She took the exam in April when she was 8 1/2 months pregnant, but failed by a few points. She had planned to take the test again earlier this week, but put it off after Norfolk Superior Court Judge Patrick Brady ruled against her last week. She now plans to retake it Oct. 4 and 5.
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 6:56 pm
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 7:12 pm
Indeed. I just hate when breast-feeding women are socially stigmatized or not given any accomodations.
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Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 8:06 pm
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 6:35 am
*cringes a little*
I'm not going to be very popular.
I don't see why she had to pump the breast milk rather then straight to the mouth. Or have a bottle alternative.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 8:28 am
Lapinporokoira *cringes a little* I'm not going to be very popular. I don't see why she had to pump the breast milk rather then straight to the mouth. Or have a bottle alternative. For the first, what would you have her do with a baby for 9 hours at a testing center? As well as the fact that it would probably necessitate breaks about as long as the ones she's getting for pumping. For the second, if she's planning on breastfeeding, taking a day off CAN compromise her milk supply, and at the very least, it's VERY painful if she's been breastfeeding for a while. A standard gap (at least according to the completely BS Babywise) for feeding an infant is 3 hours. So, that's 3 feedings of milk in her breasts... they're not MEANT to hold that much for that long. Also, "breast is best" may be cliche, but it's true. Breast feeding/milk has been linked to numerous health benefits. Basically, while yes, there are other options, I'm not really convinced of their viability.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 10:54 am
The only thing that makes me wonder is this line: Quote: The board had cited a need to be consistent in the amount of break time given and said other nursing mothers who have taken the exam found 45 minutes sufficient. I wonder how the other nursing moms managed it if it really is that bad? I think it would be interesting to hear from them on the matter.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 2:41 pm
Based on the debate we had on this issue when it was first brought up, I'm still inclined to agree with the board's initial decision. She already has special accomodations for her learning disabilities. She's not the only woman to ever go through a licensing exam with a baby. If she can't be tested based on the same standards as everyone else, how are they supposed to fairly gauge her competence and understanding of the material? It's a medical exam based on your knowledge of preserving other people's lives, not some little high school quiz. She even has a separate room to herself for feeding purposes, and she's allowed take the exam over two days instead of one. She's also allowed to express milk during the test or during break, and she has the option to leave during break to breastfeed. Having the test broken up over a two-day period already gives her more time to finish and feed the baby, even without extra time allotted. The article also mentions her having two children over the past two years, so outside help isn't out of the question because I doubt she's just going to leave the other one at home alone while she takes the test. Even if she has to use some alternative feeding method for nine hours x 2, it isn't going to seriously disrupt the remainder of her child's life. If she can't even handle a test on equal footing as other nursing mothers have obviously done (or even with the privileges they already gave her), I seriously have to wonder about her ability to handle her future residency.
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Tragic Christmas Vice Captain
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 3:14 pm
What bothers me is that wherever she practices is not going to stop to let her breastfeed. Is she going to piss and moan because a ******** ER won't stop to let her pump milk or breastfeed? She gonna look at some car accident victim and say "wait a tic, gotta feed my baby! Try not to die!"? What really bothers me, though, is that other nursing mothers have done the exam just fine without the extra time, AND she has accommodations for a learning disability.
I have to question to sanity of a woman who chooses to have two children while earning her Ph.D. and M.D. She's trying to have everything she wants at once, and when she realizes that it isn't exactly going to work that way, she starts to b***h.
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Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 3:57 pm
Deformography What bothers me is that wherever she practices is not going to stop to let her breastfeed. Is she going to piss and moan because a ******** ER won't stop to let her pump milk or breastfeed? I'd be concerned about this too, if she were going to be a surgeon. However, the article says that her goal is a career in medical research. That seems a lot more feasible with her current situation of apparently needing a break every few hours. However, I'm not sure how intense a residency for becoming a researcher is, so I can't speak with any great authority about that. Also if she were trying to become a surgeon, I'd assume by the time she were trained enough to be in charge of a surgery the child would hopefully be old enough to be weaned.
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Posted: Fri Sep 28, 2007 10:11 am
MGadda Deformography What bothers me is that wherever she practices is not going to stop to let her breastfeed. Is she going to piss and moan because a ******** ER won't stop to let her pump milk or breastfeed? I'd be concerned about this too, if she were going to be a surgeon. However, the article says that her goal is a career in medical research. That seems a lot more feasible with her current situation of apparently needing a break every few hours. However, I'm not sure how intense a residency for becoming a researcher is, so I can't speak with any great authority about that. Also if she were trying to become a surgeon, I'd assume by the time she were trained enough to be in charge of a surgery the child would hopefully be old enough to be weaned. I must have missed that! Thanks for pointing it out to me. I still think that someone pursuing a career that demands so much of you is foolish to have children while doing so. I really think that she's just pitching a fit because she can't have everything that she wants. Use your head and think about how having children is going to impact your education/career, and vice versa!
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 1:20 pm
This is the part that caught my eye (bolded):Quote: Express Yourselves"In order to put the petitioner on equal footing as the male and non-lactating female examinees, she must be provided with sufficient time to pump breast milk and to address the same physiological and other functions to which those examinees are able to attend," he wrote. Forcing her to pump, eat, and use the restroom in the allocated time, or forgo pumping altogether— thus endangering her health if she becomes engorged and infected—is unfair: "Under either avenue, [Currier] is placed at significant disadvantage in comparison to her peers."
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 4:11 pm
Yeah, don't you get mastitis if you let it back up? Since it blocks the ducts. And having had mastitis, I can't say I'd wish it on anyone. It was painful to WALK and I was only a B cup at the time. I can't imagine what it would be like for someone who's recently had a child - aren't her breasts already going to be tender anyway?
But I have to agree with Deformography, too. Having children whilst trying to become and MD is pretty silly.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 7:43 pm
I guess for me it comes down to the fact that although I agree that having kids while you're going through these kinds of things is not a good idea (this is one of the many, many reasons I have chosen not to have children while in school) I'm also willing to support those who decide differently than I do. She had the kid and I want her to breastfeed said child, so I'm in favor of giving her whatever she needs to safely do so.
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Posted: Sat Sep 29, 2007 8:20 pm
Seeing the Kraken Yeah, don't you get mastitis if you let it back up? Since it blocks the ducts. And having had mastitis, I can't say I'd wish it on anyone. It was painful to WALK and I was only a B cup at the time. I can't imagine what it would be like for someone who's recently had a child - aren't her breasts already going to be tender anyway? But I have to agree with Deformography, too. Having children whilst trying to become and MD is pretty silly. I wonder how long it would take for mastitis to set in? If her test is split up over 2 days, 4.5 hours a day, is that too long for her to go without breastfeeding/expressing milk? She might be uncomfortable and/or in pain after that 4.5 hours, but... dude, people live with constant, chronic pain. She'll survive.
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