Vacation and Leave Policy

University Standard Vacation Guidelines

• The University of Nebraska Medical Center grants 20 week days and 8 weekend days of paid vacation per year. Up to 10 vacation days can be carried over to the following year for pay-out upon completion or departure from the University.
• Residents are allowed 5 meeting days with approval by the Program Director. Please see Policy on Meetings for additional information.
• Interview days are considered vacation days.
• 6 weeks are given for maternity leave and will be considered sick leave.
• 5 days are given for paternity leave and will be considered sick leave.  

General Surgery Requirements

Although the university permits the aforementioned vacation allowances, as per the Leave Policy for General Surgery Certification by the American Board of Surgery, applicants for general surgery certification must acquire no fewer than 48 weeks of full-time surgical experience in each residency year, regardless of the amount of operative experience obtained. All vacation and leave time taken during residency must be accounted for on the application for certification, including time taken for interviews, visa issues, and early departures for fellowships. The only exception to this may be due to documented medical/maternity leave.

• Medical/Maternity Leave
  With proper documentation, the ABS will accept 46 weeks of surgical training in one of the first three years of residency and 46 weeks of training in one of the last two years, for a total of 142 weeks in the first three years and 94 weeks in the last two years. Unused vacation or leave time cannot be applied to reduce the amount of full-time surgical experience required per year without written permission from the ABS. Such requests may only be made by the program director.  

Submitting Vacation Requests

• Vacation requests must be submitted to the program coordinator by the first of the preceding month. Vacation requests submitted after the 15^th of the preceding month may not be approved.
• If vacation days are available for the service, requests will be forwarded to the appropriate chief resident for approval, followed by the chief attending.
• Vacation days must be used in full-day blocks, not to exceed 7 consecutive days
• Each service has a specified number of vacation days that can be taken for the year. (see attached) When the allotment of days has been exhausted for a rotation, no further requests will be approved.
• Five days of vacation will be reserved for each resident rotating on a three-month block within any service.
• Holidays and floating holidays are considered normal working days. If a resident chooses to take time off for a holiday they will be using vacation time. Within a single service, a resident may not have more than one holiday of the three major holidays off (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years)
• Only one chief per service may be on vacation at the same time
• Vacation requests will not be granted after the first full week of January until after the ABSITE. The ABSITE is always given the last Saturday in January and it is required that all categorical residents be present for this exam.
• No vacation requests are granted from June 15 - July 15 unless special arrangements are made with the Program Director.  

In addition to the program guidelines, each service may establish additional vacation requirements.  Please check with your service to determine these guidelines prior to submitting your request. 

2010/2011 Vacation Days per Rotation