When you're doing a PhD, you're working on a specific project that is
usually of interest to the PI as well. If you stop the project for a
year, how "OK" that would be depends upon the research environment.
Stopping it may mean you get scooped - a bad thing for your PI as well
as the student.

I used to be, and DH is, in a field where publishing is blind-reviewed
and there *is* no PI -- joint publications are very rare. There aren't
generally a lot of post-docs either, but most people take 6+ years for
the PhD. That makes you ~33 if you go straight through before you've
got a tenured position. Get a masters, as he did, or take a little
longer to publish, as many do, and you're ~40.

Given that I had severe pre-eclampsia at the age of 30 and that the
risk of developing it increases as you age, I guess I'm grateful that I
got off the PhD track. Mayhap I'll get back on in a few years.

--
C