A nursing mother wants extra exam time

And she is going to the state Supreme Court:

Ms. Currier says she runs a high risk of failing the test unless the National Board of Medical Examiners gives her additional break time to pump breast milk for her 4-month-old daughter.
The board has refused the request, and on Thursday, Ms. Currier asked a Massachusetts Superior Court judge to order it to give her extra time on each of two days of testing, plus a private room with a power outlet so she can express her milk in private with an electric pump. (The nine-hour exam, on clinical knowledge, allows 45 minutes for breaks.) . . .
. . . Ms. Currier, who holds a doctorate in neuroscience from Harvard, has received some accommodation from the board for dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. She can take the nine-hour test over two days instead of one, but she is seeking an additional 60-minute break on each day.

Comments

janemarieMD
This just really riles me!! I nursed two children for a full year each, going back to full-time practice when each was 3 months old. I worked some days in a busy emergency room with a single break of 20-30 minutes to eat lunch and pump; these shifts were 8-10 hours long. I did have mild mastitis several times, but not directly after those ER shifts.
She can already have extra exam time by taking the exam over two days instead of one. I say Grow Up Girl!! It’s fine to choose to have kids, but recognize that choices have consequences. Sometimes careers SHOULD take a back seat to parenthood, if necessary, but it sounds to me like she’s already received some accommodations that ought to be more than enough.
Anonymous
Perhaps she is confusing her choice to breastfeed and pump with . . . a disability?
She already played the disability card for an extra testing day for, of all things, dyslexia. What will these Harvard people think of next? Heaven forbid that the learning disabled people at the BMS be excluded from full and reasonable accommodations of their oh so obvious disabilities, expecially their learinig disabilities.
(How did she plead the dyslexia thing, from Harvard, with a straight face? That’s what I want to know.)
Now it’s extra time for milkies.
Do the other test takers seated with her get a few extra minutes to test themselves, you know, because of uncontrollable laughter. I couldn’t see how they could help themselves.
Anonymous
Is this really the kind of person you would want to treat you or a loved one?
However, I doubt someone like this will ever do any clinical practice. Her real talent is obviously in the area of forensics. She has all the makings of a very successful (wealthy) professional expert witness.
medrecgal
Two words come to mind: NO WAY. I can completely understand the first aspect of the accommodation situation, regarding disability; however, there is absolutely NO reason why she should be allowed extra time for something that has no bearing on the exam itself. I would suggest she pump extra milk beforehand and leave it in storage so someone else can feed the baby while she’s taking the exam. To allow “extra time” for something like this would be setting a terrible precedent in a context that’s already rife with abuse. The baby will not suffer any untoward consequences from taking milk from a bottle; the mother’s attitude, however, strikes me as self-righteous and out of line. What a terrible example to set for a child.
Anonymous
I just couldn’t believe what I was reading. This woman’s sense of entitlement is out of control. It is time, in fact, for her to grow up, and show a level of maturity above that of a 3-year-old. One thing that struck me though – this woman supposedly already has a job at MGH. What the hell were they thinking?
KoKo
Problems with this woman:
Had 2 kids in 2 years, while an MD-PhD student.
Has both attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and dyslexia
Failed her exam in April
If this woman is interested in basic research, why enter a residency in clinical pathology and why for God’s sake do an MD-PhD program.
Looks like this woman doesn’t know what she wants except to stir up trouble and get her name in print.
I’d never have her in my lab and I sure as heck wouldn’t have her as my physician.
She’s a disgrace to woman MDs and women PhDs.
janemarieMD
Glad to know I’m not the only person outraged by this. Whaddya bet in a few years she’s whining about not being taken seriously in her field?
UroCanswer
I’m sure we’ll see her again someday as some talking head on Fox News or CNN.. hopefully far, far away from any type of clinical practice involving human patients.. maybe the next “great” hospital administrator, or Surgeon General of the US. How pathetic.
KoKo
How is a PhD in neuroscience related to clinical pathology?
Anonymous
Umm – have any of you actually breastfed a baby? Sitting for 8 hours when you’re used to feeding every 3 hours is nothing short of torture. It’s not whether the baby can or can’t have a bottle – it’s the anatomy of of the women’s breast while lactating – you did cover that in Med School, right?
Anonymous
Okay, one person said sitting for eight hours is torture as per female anatomy. They gave her two days to take the 9h exam, so you do the math… tell me she can’t hack 4.5hours each day? Well, maybe pathology residents don’t get too busy so she can take her 1h break every three hours when on duty!
Anonymous
The reality is that even with the extra time and all the accommodations she will either pass or flunk based on her knowledge base and understanding of medicine. She already gets extra time, but did she fail because she ran out of time? or did she fail because along the way she didn’t learn enough basic science, clinical reasoning, and medicine to show that she is competent to practice medicine?
The newspaper article says she sited in her suit that she would be deprived of the ability to make a living, pay back her loans, get on with her career and the like, if she isn’t given every opportunity to pass the test, but where did we get promised on being accepted to medical school that we could do any of that? We still had to learn it and demonstrate it, on Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3 of the USMLE, along with our board certification exams.
I’ve got to agree with JameMarieMD. They’ve stretched the rules pretty far already for her.
Nobody’s entitled to be a doctor, or to pass the boards. The practice of medicine carries some pretty big responsibilities, including the responsibility to know your limitations. Looking for excuses and going to court is not going to help her patients if/when she enters practice.
I worked full time through medical school, busted my behind to pass my boards, and am now in private practice. During medical school and residency I encountered students and residents like this. It was nice that they put their family first, but they did that when they SHOULD have been learning medicine. In the end, every single one of them (n=7, if you want to know) turned out to be either lousy physicians or never managed to pass, even with all the extra time and accommodations.

A nursing mother wants extra exam time

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