Academic Probation

[Blunt]

I am a military intern who had some bad luck on call one night and was placed on academic probation. I think it's unfair b/c other interns and residents have made similar and much worse mistakes yet hardly been punished. But that is besides the point. Previously I had been selected for pgy2 position at a different military training center. The probation has automatically triggered a "re-look" meeting to evaluate whether I'll keep the slot.

The meeting is coming up soon, and I was wondering if anybody has any advice. What kind of documention should I submit? Is there anything in particular they'd like to hear about in an essay?

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[usnavdoc]

I guess if this all centers around just "one night of call" then your essay should address that night without trying to cast blame on others or skirt the issue. You might get more advice if we knew what specifically happened.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

I am a military intern who had some bad luck on call one night and was placed on academic probation. I think it's unfair b/c other interns and residents have made similar and much worse mistakes yet hardly been punished. But that is besides the point. Previously I had been selected for pgy2 position at a different military training center. The probation has automatically triggered a "re-look" meeting to evaluate whether I'll keep the slot.

The meeting is coming up soon, and I was wondering if anybody has any advice. What kind of documention should I submit? Is there anything in particular they'd like to hear about in an essay?

I am not sure what you mean by a meeting. If this is a hearing, not just an informal departmental meeting, they should have advised you of that and of the possible outcomes.

Have you been advised that you need to be present and that adverse action might result? If so, I recommend you consider hiring counsel.

 

[r90t]

I am not sure what you mean by a meeting. If this is a hearing, not just an informal departmental meeting, they should have advised you of that and of the possible outcomes.

Have you been advised that you need to be present and that adverse action might result? If so, I recommend you consider hiring counsel.

Was it "bad luck" or a series of mistakes.

If you screwed up, take accountability of what you did. Have supporting documentation, i.e. appropriate charting where you can defend your actions. Talk to your program director to get a full understanding of what your "review" is for. It sounds like you really don't know what is going on around you.

Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their career. Usually their career potential is not changed from a point mistake. Are you sure there has been no documentation about you previously? We had one intern in my class who was a total screw up. It took about 8 months to get her out of the program with vast amounts of documentation from all of her staff physicians. She would not listen to recommendations to improve performance, etc..

 

[Blunt]

I am not sure what you mean by a meeting. If this is a hearing, not just an informal departmental meeting, they should have advised you of that and of the possible outcomes.

There was a hearing concering whether I'd be placed on academic probation, which I opted not to be present for. I was only given five days to decide whether I'd fight it or not, and at the time I was not informed that probation would result in a "re-look" meeting. Since the incident involved several of my superiors that would have a lot of power of me in future rotations, I thought it would be best to just keep my head down.

As far as the re-look meeting goes, I really don't have any idea as to what kind of meeting it is. I'm not invited, and it at least involves the department that accepted me, but other then that I'm not sure (which is why I'm asking).

 

[Blunt]

Was it "bad luck" or a series of mistakes.

I had two bad evals, one of which was completely bogus (centered around a miscommuncation with a vindictive attending on the second to last day of the rotation). I was never placed on academic remediation, if thats what you mean. Most people are placed on academic remediation first, before being placed on probation.

If you screwed up, take accountability of what you did. Have supporting documentation, i.e. appropriate charting where you can defend your actions. Talk to your program director to get a full understanding of what your "review" is for. It sounds like you really don't know what is going on around you.

Unfortunately, the "mistake" involved a late night phone call with my PD in which I thought something was said that the PD later denied. So in retrospect, I have to wonder if there's a reason my PD didn't mention the automatic re-look meeting when we discussed whether I'd fight the charges.

Everyone makes mistakes at some point in their career. Usually their career potential is not changed from a point mistake. Are you sure there has been no documentation about you previously? We had one intern in my class who was a total screw up. It took about 8 months to get her out of the program with vast amounts of documentation from all of her staff physicians. She would not listen to recommendations to improve performance, etc..

Well the good news is that there is virtually no chance of me getting kicked out of the internship program, nor is there even a chance that I'd finish late. The only thing up in the air is the pgy-2 slot.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

There was a hearing concering whether I'd be placed on academic probation, which I opted not to be present for. I was only given five days to decide whether I'd fight it or not, and at the time I was not informed that probation would result in a "re-look" meeting. Since the incident involved several of my superiors that would have a lot of power of me in future rotations, I thought it would be best to just keep my head down.

As far as the re-look meeting goes, I really don't have any idea as to what kind of meeting it is. I'm not invited, and it at least involves the department that accepted me, but other then that I'm not sure (which is why I'm asking).

First of all, this is not the ideal forum to get advice on something like this.
It may be moot, but it always pays to be present in a hearing, even if you don't bring counsel. You at least have the opportunity to rebut allegations that you think are untrue, to present evidence you think is important in your defense, and to confront someone who is accusing you.
When you are not present, you only invite those who would say things contrary to your interest to do so without at least your knowledge or ability to defend yourself. Forget about "keeping your head down". Doing that is asking for a sandbagging.

Do you have at least the opportunity to address the members convening this meeting in writing? Do you have witnesses in your defense that can support the notion that you should not be the one to bear the full brunt of criticism for whatever transpired? Can you show evidence where similar action elsewhere has not been treated similarly?

I don't know what your options are at this point. If they did not inform you that the prior hearing would have consequences beyond placing you on a probationary status, which seems to be what you are saying, then to use the outcome of that meeting as a basis to retract an offer for residency training seems excessive. I am not a lawyer, but if they are going to take additional action beyond probation and they didn't say so, I think they owe you another hearing, first. I think you need to at least talk to a lawyer who is knowledgable with academic due process. I strongly advise you to secure a copy of the transcript of that first hearing, too.