Medical Students’ Experiences of Unplanned Leaves of Absence

Context Many medical students take leaves of absence (LOA), both planned and unplanned. Unplanned LOA relate to personal or academic situations which arise and create the need for a student to temporarily suspend their medical education. This can be a high-stakes decision for the student and the school. However, there is a dearth of published literature regarding the experience of students who take a LOA to guide decision-makers. The aim of this study is to examine the experiences of medical students who took an unplanned LOA and subsequently returned to school.