Hi, one of my family friends did 17 months of Residency but was dismissed from the program due to variety of reasons. They were able to get a license and worked as a General Practitioner in many Urgent Cares afterwards for 26 years. They are FMG from India. The issue is they are reaching age where they want to have a stable job with benefits but the fact that they are not board eligible comes up. Is there any chance of them going into an advanced position at this stage and finishing residency or is it a lost cause? I worry about the fact that they are in their early 60's as being a barrier but they have enough stamina to go to the gym for 2-3 hours daily. Thanks
Returning to Residency after 26 years?
- Thread starter shahseh22
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Not going to happen.
Now they want a stable job after being out in practice for 26 years?
What benefits do they want now? They'll be eligible for Medicare and social security anyways in a few years.
Besides, if they have time to go to the gym for 3 hours a day, sign me up. I want those work hours instead.
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I agree that's really impressive if he's going to the gym 2-3hrs/day.
There are multiple reasons I agree with the above poster that this isn't going to happen.
First is I think it's literally not possible without repeating all his USMLE testing. And I'm not sure you can take them this far out of med school. Even if you could, there'd be a lot of time/prep into studying for those. I can't imagine how much time I'd need to study to re-take Step 1 right now... And then there's still Step 2 and 3. And After he passes all of them he could then apply for residency (he can apply without Step 3, but I can't see any program remotely considering him without having all three). So that's a few years already between studying/taking tests/application cycle. Add on another 3 years for the residency, as he won't get credit for rotations from 26 years ago.
So probably looking at 5 years +/- until board-eligible. At that point he'd be 65 if he's only 60. How long does he plan to practice? The trade-off doesn't seem worth it to me.
I also don't see any residency program taking on a resident in their 60's. Call it ageist, but they are unlikely to think someone in their 60's can keep up with the younger interns, physically or mentally. After 26 years in practice, your friend has likely also reinforced a lot of his clinical thinking/practices, so it's going to be significantly harder to train him compared to a fresh med school grad.
Being terminated from residency is another red flag. Not insurmountable, but in combination with all of the above, I really do think the odds of success are near 0. I however, am not an adcom so he doesn't need to take my word for it.
Why not apply for jobs with the VA, DOD, State Hospital system, IHS, etc. I believe quite a few of those only require a state license and not specific board certification (hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong), and they would come with benefits/job stability.
There are multiple reasons I agree with the above poster that this isn't going to happen.
First is I think it's literally not possible without repeating all his USMLE testing. And I'm not sure you can take them this far out of med school. Even if you could, there'd be a lot of time/prep into studying for those. I can't imagine how much time I'd need to study to re-take Step 1 right now... And then there's still Step 2 and 3. And After he passes all of them he could then apply for residency (he can apply without Step 3, but I can't see any program remotely considering him without having all three). So that's a few years already between studying/taking tests/application cycle. Add on another 3 years for the residency, as he won't get credit for rotations from 26 years ago.
So probably looking at 5 years +/- until board-eligible. At that point he'd be 65 if he's only 60. How long does he plan to practice? The trade-off doesn't seem worth it to me.
I also don't see any residency program taking on a resident in their 60's. Call it ageist, but they are unlikely to think someone in their 60's can keep up with the younger interns, physically or mentally. After 26 years in practice, your friend has likely also reinforced a lot of his clinical thinking/practices, so it's going to be significantly harder to train him compared to a fresh med school grad.
Being terminated from residency is another red flag. Not insurmountable, but in combination with all of the above, I really do think the odds of success are near 0. I however, am not an adcom so he doesn't need to take my word for it.
Why not apply for jobs with the VA, DOD, State Hospital system, IHS, etc. I believe quite a few of those only require a state license and not specific board certification (hopefully someone can correct me if I'm wrong), and they would come with benefits/job stability.
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No, I can’t imagine any program in any specialty even considering this applicant.
Nor do I think it would be worth it
Nor do I think it would be worth it
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There's gotta be more to this story. They have a 26-year work history and are only now getting worried about being employable?
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Most clinics that bill insurance now require BC/BE so a current employer may be putting the squeeze on this person, and as he's looking at other jobs he's probably realizing it's no different for most other employers.
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We have an actual relative who graduated about the same time as the OP's "relative" (25-30y ago), did a TY year and then bounced to rural EM/UC because he was smarter than everyone who was trying to teach him (all you had to do was ask him) and then has been doing IHS GP work for the past couple of decades. But then he pissed off the tribe he was working for and the canned him, got another IHS job and quit after a couple of years because they "didn't respect him". So now he's 3 decades out, unemployed and no real options unless he does a residency, which he won't (and won't get accepted to anyway). He's also apparently done literally no financial planning in that time other than build a log manse in the woods and buy all the toys associated with it.
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What? Maybe see if he can retire early. If he has enough $ saved up from working at these urgent cares, it wouldn't be worth it to go back to residency.
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The VA is looking for people to do induction physicals. I don't know if they require board cert, but something to look in to.
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a close family member of mine went back to school/residency at age 50. Had been out in practice as a GP for approx. 18 years. Was able to complete a 2 year program, passed board exam, and became board certified in Occupational medicine.
Hard but this happened
Hard but this happened
please can you suggest how to get back to medicine. I have finished residency psych 7yrs back . Have not worked nor have step 3 , as new rules came up last yr. Please suggest me how i can get back to practise.
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I encourage you to start your own thread, and disclose as much detail as you're comfortable with so we can give you fair advice. This thread is asking something different, and trying to answer your question will confuse the issue.
