Parents working or studying in School of Medicine
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The School of Medicine aims to celebrate and accommodate all kinds of families, and is committed to non-discrimination on the basis of family or civil status. Below are some resources which may be useful to parents, carers and those who are pregnant while studying or working in the School of Medicine.
Breastfeeding facilities
A list of breastfeeding facilities across TCD’s main campus, as well as at our hospital campuses, can be found here.
Daycare facilities
TCD’s Day Nursery accommodates children from 3 months to 5 years old. This facility can be accessed by staff and student parents. Information on how to apply and fees for this service are available here.
The National Childcare Scheme (NCS) provides financial support to help everyone in Ireland with their childcare costs. This is for children aged between 24 weeks and 15 years of age. There are 2 types of childcare subsidy:
- A universal subsidy which is not means tested.
- An income-assessed subsidy which is means tested.
Please see www.ncs.gov.ie for further details and the ECCE scheme Early Learning & Child Care here.
Student resources
The TCD Policy on Support for Student Parents, Student Carers and Students Experiencing Pregnancy is available here. This policy aims to support students as they navigate myriad complexities of additional caring responsibilities and pregnancy. This policy includes a clear set of protocols and a range of flexible accommodations to assist students who are parents or carers or who are experiencing pregnancy.
Such accommodations also apply to those undertaking hospital placements during their education. For example, placement dates/times may be negotiated, where possible, to accommodate caring/parental responsibilities. Undergraduate and postgraduate students can reach out to School of Medicine Student Welfare Officer Simone Cameron-Coen (Simone.Cameron-Coen@tcd.ie) for more information about this policy.
Information on TCD policies, as well as support facilities, legal protections and external supports for student carers and parents and students experiencing pregnancy are available from the TCD EDI office here.
The TCD Global Office offer specific orientations for international students who are parents. More information can be found here.
Additional information on student supports for student parents, as well as a link to the TCD Student Parent and Caregiver Whatsapp group are outlined here.
The Senior Tutor’s Office (stosec@tcd.ie) can also provide you with further information regarding specific supports available to student parents for academic, financial and other matters.
Staff resources
Maternity and Paternity Leave
Information on adoptive leave, parental leave, maternity and paternity leave, as well as other types of leave, available to staff, are outlined here.
Maternity leave: TCD employees are entitled to 26 consecutive weeks maternity leave, of which at least two weeks must be taken before the expected date of the birth and at least four weeks taken after the date of the birth of your child. Maternity leave with pay is available to all members of staff who have completed at least 26 weeks of continuous employment with no break in service prior to the commencement of the Maternity Leave. More detailed information about staff maternity leave is available here.
Paternity leave: Paternity leave is a period of two consecutive weeks leave available to a relevant parent on the birth/adoption of a child, where the date of birth/day of placement falls on or after 1st September 2016. This leave is to allow the relevant parent to assist in the care of the child or to provide support to the mother/relevant adopting parent of the child. As part of the University’s commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, State Paternity Benefit will be topped up to full salary (once certain criteria are met). A staff member on Paternity Leave will continue to receive net pay at the rate payable prior to the commencement of the Paternity Leave, based on existing tax credits. . The staff paternity leave policy is available here.
Balancing Care and Career – An experience of paternity leave in academia
Staff of the School of Medicine can avail of parental leave, including maternity, paternity and adoptive leave. We asked Prof. Cathal Walsh, father and Professor of Biostatistics in the School of Medicine, about his experience taking paternity leave and how it has influenced his career.
What did your paternity leave involve (length, full- or part-time etc.)?
I didn’t take time off when my eldest was born. I was new in the job and felt like it was normal just to keep working in the same way I had before. It was a busy time though and juggling a new baby and evening teaching was tough going. I found that I wasn’t able to be fully present either at work or at home.
When the next child was born I did take paternity leave and made sure I arranged the working day so that it had more balance. I also later took advantage of the shorter working year scheme which was introduced some time later to reduce my hours to 80% of full time. It meant a reduction in gross salary but the impact after tax was much less.
What stage of your career were you in when you took paternity leave?
I took leave (paternity and shorter working year) at Assistant Professor (then lecturer), Associate Professor and Professor level (when I was appointed to a Chair in Limerick.)
What do you feel were the benefits of taking paternity leave?
This certainly allowed for a better balance overall - both the paternity leave and the overall reduced hours with the shorter working year scheme.
The fact I had reduced hours empowered me to say ’no’ to some of the additional things we’re asked to do - or at least to ring fence my time commitment to additional projects.
It allowed a proper ‘recharging’ of batteries and the rest from focusing on work projects also allowed me to be more effective in work. I work in a technical area involving mathematics, calculations and coding. For me, if I’m working too hard or long on a problem progress can be slow. It’s easy to make mistakes when tired. By ensuring I had opportunities to ‘rest’ the mind - albeit fully busy otherwise with young children - it meant I was much more effective in the time I spent at work.
In fact I was more productive (in terms of grant applications and publications) in a shorter time with the benefit of the rest that was afforded by the leave. I know others who have taken leave have had similar experiences of being able to concentrate better and work efficiently knowing that the candle wasn’t burning so strongly at both ends.
What supports helped you to manage ongoing work when you took paternity leave?
Just taking advantage of the available schemes was the first step.
For me, because the main leave was taken spread over days throughout the year it was possible to continue involvement in ongoing projects.
With, for example, maternity leave the question is more challenging as to how to stay on top of an evolving field while on leave. I know from colleagues that returning to work from leave can be challenging and it is important to be able to draw on existing practice to ensure that it doesn’t involve a ‘sudden’ start back into a heavy teaching load for example.
Do you have any advice for those planning on taking maternity, paternity or other forms of leave?
It’s important to be aware that these schemes are available and know that you not only can, but you should make use of them in the way they are intended.
When training in a physical sport, or when studying for exams for example, there is a temptation to keep working as hard as possible as long as possible. We know, however, that ‘cramming’ is not an effective strategy for exams and that overtraining will mean an athlete performs less well on the day of an event.
Time passes quickly especially with young children and when looking back I was very glad to both have had, and have availed of the leave that was available at the time.