You can get paid for only taking a day or two off in a week. I used the leave on a part-time basis after I had my son. I was able to get paid for the two days I was off on leave, and I worked three days. Each week you submit a claim of how much you worked in that week (they get information from your employer about how much you typically work in a week), and you get paid for the time off that you took. Since I was using it as family leave, I was able to use it throughout the first year of my son's life. I don't know if you have the option to extend it that long for medical leave.