Terminated from residency - need advice!

[thehealer]

Hi guys,

Quick background: DO grad last spring with av stats, but worked my butt off 3rd and 4th year and successfully couples matched with and MD-grad into an ACGME program (I'll just say it was either EM or IM). Wife matched into an extremely competitive specialty at same institution. Major success story...

8 months in, intern year was going great. Liked my program, good evals, good feedback from attendings, really no issues at all. Life is good right? And then in a moment of pure stupidity I did something really dumb. Was not al all related to patient care, no one else was harmed or involved. I'd rather not elaborate, but let's just say I made a bad choice....(sorry for being vague)

After being sent home early that day, I called my PD, and explained everything. He said to me "everyone makes mistakes" and said "You and me are good, but this has already gone way above my head." Next day, received a Suspension letter, and the day after that, a Termination letter, with option to appeal in a hearing. Otherwise no other info (reasons for termination etc). Since the beginning PD has continued to support me, in addition to my attending at the time of said mistake, who is also the chief of medicine. Even the director of GME has apologized saying "I wish there was more I could do" but gave me the same "This is above my head now."

I got a good lawyer, spent the entire week preparing for the hearing, which seemed to go well. I owned up to my mistakes and basically begged for a 2nd chance. I've never been fired from a job or had any disciplinary issues in the past, and promised them this would never happen again, and I was taking steps to make sure of this. The panel seemed receptive and understanding, and so I was optimistic. However, I sensed that the entire hearing nothing more than a kangaroo court, as the final decision is made by the SOM Dean.

4 days later...got a 1-sentence letter in the mail from the GME office saying the Dean has upheld the termination decision. So the question...how do I proceed from here?

I loved being a doctor, and really want to stay in clinical medicine. My PD and numerous attendings continue to be supportive, so that's a good thing. But right now, I am weighing the following options: Do I...
-Try to "scramble" into an open AOA (aka DO) rotating internship (there are still some available) and then reapply in a year?
-Do I get an MPH and then reapply in a year?
-Do I try to continue to fight this thing internally (considering speaking with the Univ President or even threatening filing a complaint with ACGME/LCME - school was recently on probation)
-Do I take legal action (my lawyer doesn't think we will be successful only because these are VERY hard to win in court; has to be "arbitrary and capricious")

Thanks in advance for your advice. My whole world has been turned upside down and any guidance is appreciated!

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[Raryn]

The *only* circumstances I can imagine that would lead you to get suspended the day after an incident and terminated the day after that are A) Criminal B) Drugs/Alcohol (at work) and C) Sleeping with a patient and a far, far fourth D) Extreme HIPAA violations in a program that has a hairtrigger for that sort of thing. Given that you aren't discussing your upcoming felony trial, I can only assume it's B) or C) with a distant possibility of D).

If it's one of those, you're screwed. Like really, really screwed. Your actual best hope might be if it was drugs/alcohol at work, because if you're appropriately penitent, go through rehab, etc you might be able to convince someone you've reformed. I cannot think of any other circumstance that both gets you terminated after one day without probation and would allow you to someday return to work.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Probably a HIPAA violation.
Not much else goes up THAT quick such as that.
The other possibility is if you had been caught sneaking certain medications, especially if you were in the ED.
If this is the case, you're toast.
Next best advice I have is to maybe get into an AOA program that has issues filling.

 

[Moose A Moose]

Sorry to hear about this, OP. Seriously.

Will you still be able to match another program with this following you?
If you're what you say you are- a good doctor who has support from his attendings, and love what you do- I hope you're able.

 

[QofQuimica]

No one can answer this without knowing what the issue was. As the person above me said, there are certain "crimes" that are not forgivable for a physician, even if you're generally a good guy otherwise. In particular, if you did something where you aren't licensable anymore, you will probably not be able to get into any residency position anywhere. Other "crimes" are automatic grounds for termination by many institutions, like violating HIPAA. Even as an attending, if I commit a HIPAA violation, I'm gone, and there's nothing my chairman could do about it even if he wanted me to stay.

If it's not one of those two categories, then you still have a training license, and you need to talk to some people who know about your situation to see what your options are. Since your PD is supportive, I'd start by talking to him and/or to your faculty advisor.

 

[deleted480308]

this sounds like hospital administration is done with you unfortunately...I hope you can figure something out

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

OP,
Don't get caught up in lip service. Faculty, PD etc will all claim to support you. If it's something that isn't a major detriment to your career in medicine, then have them actively help you.

From the sounds of it though, their hands may be tied. Good luck.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

-Try to "scramble" into an open AOA (aka DO) rotating internship (there are still some available) and then reapply in a year?
-Do I get an MPH and then reapply in a year?
-Do I try to continue to fight this thing internally (considering speaking with the Univ President or even threatening filing a complaint with ACGME/LCME - school was recently on probation)
-Do I take legal action (my lawyer doesn't think we will be successful only because these are VERY hard to win in court; has to be "arbitrary and capricious")

As others have mentioned, since the "event" has gone over your direct supervisor's heads, you've done something that has trigger a review by HR or the like. Usually there are clear rules that have little flexibility. Show up at work drunk, and you get fired. End of story. (Not saying this is what happened to you, but is a similar situation).

Trying to get a second chance in these types of cases is usually a waste of time -- but you might as well. The problem is that, even if you "deserve" a second chance, once they give you a second chance, everyone else will need to get one also or they can be accused of discrimination.

So, what to do next:

1. If this involves drugs/alcohol, then consider getting enrolled /evaluated by your BoM's physician health program. This is especially important if you don't have a drug problem. Once you're assessed, you'll have an easier time (in general) getting a license. Note that this may be very state/board dependent, so you should explore it before proceeding.

2. Fighting internally is a losing cause. The ACGME does not get into individual resident complaints. And, if you violated a workplace rule that has the punishment of termination, then there has been nothing wrong done. Perhaps you feel the rule is unfair, but that's the way the world is. Complaining (or threatening to complain) to the ACGME, LCME, EEOC, or any other body will simply generate ill will from your prior employer.

3. Legal action isn't usually a good path either. As your lawyer has said, unless this is arbitrary you're going to lose. If there was a clear rule, and you broke it, you will lose. And it will take years to resolve, and you'll also burn any good will with your employer.

4. You need to know if this will be reported to the board of medicine. That will depend upon whether you have a license (training or otherwise), and the nature of the problem. Your employer should tell you if it will be reported, and how.

5. The main goal is to find a new program. You mentioned EM and IM. If this is EM, your chances of getting a new spot aren't great and will depend upon the event. If telling the story would make other people react as "That totally isn't fair", then you might have a chance. If they will react "That was dumb, I would have fired you also", then you're less likely to garner any sympathy from them. IM will be less competitive, and there tend to be more spots.

6. You couple's matched, so staying local is likely important. This severely limits your options, unless you're willing to move away. You can't be hired at the same institution, so you'll need to look at others. This is why knowing what's happening at the BoM is really important -- if you're going to lose your license over this, then you can't even find a spot in the same area (unless you happen to live on a state border with training programs in the next state over).

 

[J ROD]

If it is that serious, then probably need to prepare for another career. Unless it is substance abuse, I think you probably could make that work with asking for rehab through work.

 

[Rendar5]

Ask your PD what he thinks you would need to do to have another PD look at you as a potential hire, and have him be honest if he doesn't think you would be hireable. Even if you are still hireable, you're couples matched, so any continuation of a medical career would likely result in you separating from your partner, not an easy position to be in. Your partner needs to weigh in on this to see if continuing while separated is preferable to finding another career

 

[Dave1980]

I'll just say it was either EM or IM

From your profile it is clear you are an EM resident. If you want good advice you should provide relevant information...smh

 

[BobBarker]

Plenty of DO EM residencies. I can't imagine too many people are eager to go to the one in Lawton, OK for instance

 

[da8s0859q]

As above – what did you do?

 

[psychMDhopefully]

Plenty of DO EM residencies. I can't imagine too many people are eager to go to the one in Lawton, OK for instance

Because of the merger, when can MD students get their hands on those??

 

[deleted547631]

Hi guys,

Quick background: DO grad last spring with av stats, but worked my butt off 3rd and 4th year and successfully couples matched with and MD-grad into an ACGME program (I'll just say it was either EM or IM). Wife matched into an extremely competitive specialty at same institution. Major success story...

8 months in, intern year was going great. Liked my program, good evals, good feedback from attendings, really no issues at all. Life is good right? And then in a moment of pure stupidity I did something really dumb. Was not al all related to patient care, no one else was harmed or involved. I'd rather not elaborate, but let's just say I made a bad choice....(sorry for being vague)

After being sent home early that day, I called my PD, and explained everything. He said to me "everyone makes mistakes" and said "You and me are good, but this has already gone way above my head." Next day, received a Suspension letter, and the day after that, a Termination letter, with option to appeal in a hearing. Otherwise no other info (reasons for termination etc). Since the beginning PD has continued to support me, in addition to my attending at the time of said mistake, who is also the chief of medicine. Even the director of GME has apologized saying "I wish there was more I could do" but gave me the same "This is above my head now."

I got a good lawyer, spent the entire week preparing for the hearing, which seemed to go well. I owned up to my mistakes and basically begged for a 2nd chance. I've never been fired from a job or had any disciplinary issues in the past, and promised them this would never happen again, and I was taking steps to make sure of this. The panel seemed receptive and understanding, and so I was optimistic. However, I sensed that the entire hearing nothing more than a kangaroo court, as the final decision is made by the SOM Dean.

4 days later...got a 1-sentence letter in the mail from the GME office saying the Dean has upheld the termination decision. So the question...how do I proceed from here?

I loved being a doctor, and really want to stay in clinical medicine. My PD and numerous attendings continue to be supportive, so that's a good thing. But right now, I am weighing the following options: Do I...
-Try to "scramble" into an open AOA (aka DO) rotating internship (there are still some available) and then reapply in a year?
-Do I get an MPH and then reapply in a year?
-Do I try to continue to fight this thing internally (considering speaking with the Univ President or even threatening filing a complaint with ACGME/LCME - school was recently on probation)
-Do I take legal action (my lawyer doesn't think we will be successful only because these are VERY hard to win in court; has to be "arbitrary and capricious")

Thanks in advance for your advice. My whole world has been turned upside down and any guidance is appreciated!

I like the MPH idea as it can be a pathway to a viable administrative non-clinical career that's still health related but doesn't require a medical license. Going to grad school will buy you more time to get the situation figured out while going back to in-school deferment for the loans. I hope there's redemption for your situation and wishing you the best.

 

[Gastrapathy]

I'm trying to think what you could have done that would get you fired without passing GO but yet didn't involve a patient. I'm guessing theft or academic dishonesty. Your lawyer should be able to figure out the appeals process (can you find out what the committee recommended?). Run any appeal as far as you can. You have nothing to lose there. After that, its really going to depend entirely on what you did. Was it criminal, do they have to report you to the medical board, what will they state to future programs and other good questions all depend on what you actually did.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Until the OP provides more information, there's not much more to really add. All the best to the OP in whatever you do next, and I really do mean it.

 

[Arcan57]

It's unlikely that the OP is going to provide enough info to get advice that is more useful than what APD gave. The moral of the story for those scoring at home has to be don't f$&# with HR.

 

[criticalelement]

go find another program. Cold call the 500 general medicine programs in the country and tell your story to them and hope for the best.

I cant imagine getting terminated immediately. Must have been pretty bad what you did. but good luck to you

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

It's unlikely that the OP is going to provide enough info to get advice that is more useful than what APD gave. The moral of the story for those scoring at home has to be don't f$&# with HR.

No ****.
HR doesn't give a **** about anyone except the hospital (and themselves).

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

go find another program. Cold call the 500 general medicine programs in the country and tell your story to them and hope for the best.

I cant imagine getting terminated immediately. Must have been pretty bad what you did. but good luck to you

Yeah, cold calling doesn't really work.

 

[rokshana]

Yeah, cold calling doesn't really work.

what does he have to lose ?

 

[Shikima]

Talk to your lawyer about the next step.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

what does he have to lose ?

Time and effort.
You need some sort of network or support system in place. Simply cold calling as a resident who had been terminated for whatever reason (especially if something so serious that it required sudden dismissal) isn't going to lead to many "why yes, we have a spot, let's talk" conversations. There has to be someone else assisting and making calls on your behalf, as well - even if it means knowing a resident on the other side whose program has a sudden opening and is willing to/can vouch hard for you.

 

[rokshana]

Time and effort.
You need some sort of network or support system in place. Simply cold calling as a resident who had been terminated for whatever reason (especially if something so serious that it required sudden dismissal) isn't going to lead to many "why yes, we have a spot, let's talk" conversations. There has to be someone else assisting and making calls on your behalf, as well - even if it means knowing a resident on the other side whose program has a sudden opening and is willing to/can vouch hard for you.

well he has plenty of free time and can put in the effort if he wants to stay in medicine...sure it probably will be fruitless, but even if one program is willing (or desperate ) then the time and effort will be worth it.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

well he has plenty of free time and can put in the effort if he wants to stay in medicine...sure it probably will be fruitless, but even if one program is willing (or desperate ) then the time and effort will be worth it.

His better shot would be to go AOA
Hopefully he has friends from med school who could potentially help him out.

 

[saudades]

I would also guess showing up impaired, stealing drugs, HIPAA if it was not a medical error. I will say that if it was showing up impaired, whether on some kind of substance or in some other way ("impaired" can mean a lot of things), or even stealing drugs, there is still hope. Like others have said, if this is the case, enroll with your impaired physicians program (called different things in different states) and follow their recommendations NO MATTER WHAT. More than likely they will recommend rehab, behavior modification (ie, anger management) or some other kind of intensive, expensive treatment. I have met more people than I'd have expected through the years that this has happened to, including those who are now successful attendings. Good luck.

 

[Raryn]

I would also guess showing up impaired, stealing drugs, HIPAA if it was not a medical error. I will say that if it was showing up impaired, whether on some kind of substance or in some other way ("impaired" can mean a lot of things), or even stealing drugs, there is still hope. Like others have said, if this is the case, enroll with your impaired physicians program (called different things in different states) and follow their recommendations NO MATTER WHAT. More than likely they will recommend rehab, behavior modification (ie, anger management) or some other kind of intensive, expensive treatment. I have met more people than I'd have expected through the years that this has happened to, including those who are now successful attendings. Good luck.

I can't think of any medical error that gets you fired the next day. None. Even the most egregious errors, wrong site procedure, whatever, won't get you flat-out fired in any program. A pattern of behavior might do it, but the OP said he didn't have any prior issues. Otherwise, you might get your procedure privileges pulled, you might get put on probation, but nothing gets you fired for one *medical* mistake. I mean, deliberately killing someone might... but that leads to criminal charges.

 

[Crayola227]

we are clearly dying to know what you did brah

it would be waaayy useful to the future residents of America for them to know the kinda thing that gets you terminated next day

I'm totally shocked you can't even allude to what type of issue it was

the fact you won't even offer a clue makes me think the worst of you, and I'm the first one in these threads to champion how evil and unfair the residency system is

 

[Rendar5]

we are clearly dying to know what you did brah

it would be waaayy useful to the future residents of America for them to know the kinda thing that gets you terminated next day

I'm totally shocked you can't even allude to what type of issue it was

the fact you won't even offer a clue makes me think the worst of you, and I'm the first one in these threads to champion how evil and unfair the residency system is

He clearly punched the 2 year old daughter of the hospital CEO in the face because she was crying. I thought the subtext was obvious.

 

[Psai]

He clearly punched the 2 year old daughter of the hospital CEO in the face because she was crying. I thought the subtext was obvious.

Eh probably had it coming

 

[MediCane2006]

Hi guys,

Quick background: DO grad last spring with av stats, but worked my butt off 3rd and 4th year and successfully couples matched with and MD-grad into an ACGME program (I'll just say it was either EM or IM). Wife matched into an extremely competitive specialty at same institution. Major success story...

8 months in, intern year was going great. Liked my program, good evals, good feedback from attendings, really no issues at all. Life is good right? And then in a moment of pure stupidity I did something really dumb. Was not al all related to patient care, no one else was harmed or involved. I'd rather not elaborate, but let's just say I made a bad choice....(sorry for being vague)

After being sent home early that day, I called my PD, and explained everything. He said to me "everyone makes mistakes" and said "You and me are good, but this has already gone way above my head." Next day, received a Suspension letter, and the day after that, a Termination letter, with option to appeal in a hearing. Otherwise no other info (reasons for termination etc). Since the beginning PD has continued to support me, in addition to my attending at the time of said mistake, who is also the chief of medicine. Even the director of GME has apologized saying "I wish there was more I could do" but gave me the same "This is above my head now."

I got a good lawyer, spent the entire week preparing for the hearing, which seemed to go well. I owned up to my mistakes and basically begged for a 2nd chance. I've never been fired from a job or had any disciplinary issues in the past, and promised them this would never happen again, and I was taking steps to make sure of this. The panel seemed receptive and understanding, and so I was optimistic. However, I sensed that the entire hearing nothing more than a kangaroo court, as the final decision is made by the SOM Dean.

4 days later...got a 1-sentence letter in the mail from the GME office saying the Dean has upheld the termination decision. So the question...how do I proceed from here?

I loved being a doctor, and really want to stay in clinical medicine. My PD and numerous attendings continue to be supportive, so that's a good thing. But right now, I am weighing the following options: Do I...
-Try to "scramble" into an open AOA (aka DO) rotating internship (there are still some available) and then reapply in a year?
-Do I get an MPH and then reapply in a year?
-Do I try to continue to fight this thing internally (considering speaking with the Univ President or even threatening filing a complaint with ACGME/LCME - school was recently on probation)
-Do I take legal action (my lawyer doesn't think we will be successful only because these are VERY hard to win in court; has to be "arbitrary and capricious")

Thanks in advance for your advice. My whole world has been turned upside down and any guidance is appreciated!

I'm going to guess this was a HIPAA violation, as that's the ONLY thing I've ever heard of that results in HR getting involved this quick (and I've known residents who came to work drunk and got caught, slept with patients and got caught, were shooting up propofol in the bathroom while on call and got caught, etc). I will go a little against the grain and say that in the two situations I'm familiar with - one when a resident left their computer logged in, and someone accessed the medical record of a celebrity being treated at the hospital - resulted in the resident being fired right away, and both residents were able to find another position in their specialty at a different institution.

The key will be getting your PD to go to bat for you. He needs to write you a stellar letter (alluding to the fact that you made a single mistake but were otherwise a great resident) and call EVERYONE he knows in your field. You also need to make some phone calls to programs where you may have any semblance of a connection, and have your PD call for you.

If you've been a good resident, and have a good relationship with your PD, this isn't an unsalvageable situation. I wish you best of luck. And for everyone in the peanut gallery, DO NOT fck around with HIPAA.

 

[cookymonster]

OP hasn't logged on since the day he made this post. Hopefully that's a good sign, but he's obviously checked out of this thread and isn't going to supply any more info and probably won't heed our advice.

 

[Crayola227]

troll?

 

[Crayola227]

I'm going to guess this was a HIPAA violation, as that's the ONLY thing I've ever heard of that results in HR getting involved this quick (and I've known residents who came to work drunk and got caught, slept with patients and got caught, were shooting up propofol in the bathroom while on call and got caught, etc). I will go a little against the grain and say that in the two situations I'm familiar with - one when a resident left their computer logged in, and someone accessed the medical record of a celebrity being treated at the hospital - resulted in the resident being fired right away, and both residents were able to find another position in their specialty at a different institution.

The key will be getting your PD to go to bat for you. He needs to write you a stellar letter (alluding to the fact that you made a single mistake but were otherwise a great resident) and call EVERYONE he knows in your field. You also need to make some phone calls to programs where you may have any semblance of a connection, and have your PD call for you.

If you've been a good resident, and have a good relationship with your PD, this isn't an unsalvageable situation. I wish you best of luck. And for everyone in the peanut gallery, DO NOT fck around with HIPAA.

wow, your hospital crew clearly knew how to party!

 

[gracie369]

Next day, received a Suspension letter, and the day after that, a Termination letter, with option to appeal in a hearing. Otherwise no other info (reasons for termination etc).

Even the director of GME has apologized saying "I wish there was more I could do" but gave me the same "This is above my head now."

as the final decision is made by the SOM Dean.

4 days later...got a 1-sentence letter in the mail from the GME office saying the Dean has upheld the termination decision. So the question...how do I proceed from here?

OP your post is just ridiculous. I included all the BS parts.

You got a suspension letter one day and the next day a termination letter? No!
It's out of GME and PD's hands but all of the sudden the dean from the medical school drops a termination on you? Ha no! Not his/her jurisdiction! Problems are never out of GME and PD's hands. That's just funny.

Good one.

 

[dozitgetchahi]

The *only* circumstances I can imagine that would lead you to get suspended the day after an incident and terminated the day after that are A) Criminal B) Drugs/Alcohol (at work) and C) Sleeping with a patient and a far, far fourth D) Extreme HIPAA violations in a program that has a hairtrigger for that sort of thing. Given that you aren't discussing your upcoming felony trial, I can only assume it's B) or C) with a distant possibility of D).

If it's one of those, you're screwed. Like really, really screwed. Your actual best hope might be if it was drugs/alcohol at work, because if you're appropriately penitent, go through rehab, etc you might be able to convince someone you've reformed. I cannot think of any other circumstance that both gets you terminated after one day without probation and would allow you to someday return to work.

I think there's more possibilities than this -

- Making blatantly racist, sexist or otherwise extremely politically incorrect remarks to patients or co-residents etc, especially if this caught the attention of the media somehow
- Doing something really stupid off-campus that gets posted to youtube (remember that drunk neurology chick who flipped out at an Uber driver and got rapidly canned?)
- As stated above, theft or academic dishonesty could do it (imagine that it suddenly comes to light that you lied extensively on your residency app...)

Drop some racial slurs in front of a few patients etc and you'll find out just how quickly the hammer comes down, especially if the patients scare up attention somehow.

This said, I wonder if this really was a patient safety-related incident and OP is just not really revealing it...generally when one gets sent home immediately this is happening either because you are an immediate threat to patients or because some sort of crime has just been committed.

My guess is that OP showed up plastered and/or reeking of pot smoke with bloodshot eyes etc...

 

[dozitgetchahi]

I can't think of any medical error that gets you fired the next day. None. Even the most egregious errors, wrong site procedure, whatever, won't get you flat-out fired in any program. A pattern of behavior might do it, but the OP said he didn't have any prior issues. Otherwise, you might get your procedure privileges pulled, you might get put on probation, but nothing gets you fired for one *medical* mistake. I mean, deliberately killing someone might... but that leads to criminal charges.

Try this:

Patient gets admitted to your county hospital ICU but is a veteran. Rather than rendering any care to this patient, you spend all your time figuring out how to transfer him to the neighboring VA. The pt eventually codes and dies.

This resident (who was at my program years ago) got ****canned pretty damn quickly.

 

[rokshana]

I think there's more possibilities than this -

- Making blatantly racist, sexist or otherwise extremely politically incorrect remarks to patients or co-residents etc, especially if this caught the attention of the media somehow
- Doing something really stupid off-campus that gets posted to youtube (remember that drunk neurology chick who flipped out at an Uber driver and got rapidly canned?)
- As stated above, theft or academic dishonesty could do it (imagine that it suddenly comes to light that you lied extensively on your residency app...)

Drop some racial slurs in front of a few patients etc and you'll find out just how quickly the hammer comes down, especially if the patients scare up attention somehow.

This said, I wonder if this really was a patient safety-related incident and OP is just not really revealing it...generally when one gets sent home immediately this is happening either because you are an immediate threat to patients or because some sort of crime has just been committed.

My guess is that OP showed up plastered and/or reeking of pot smoke with bloodshot eyes etc...

no that will get you treatment and remediation...put on probation or administrative leave.. not canned the next day ( neurology chick was put on administrative leave not fired...)

HIPAA involving a celebrity (or other notorious person) admitted to hospital...that will (and has) gotten people fired (not just residents) with not questions asked...

 

[Raryn]

I think there's more possibilities than this -

- Making blatantly racist, sexist or otherwise extremely politically incorrect remarks to patients or co-residents etc, especially if this caught the attention of the media somehow
- Doing something really stupid off-campus that gets posted to youtube (remember that drunk neurology chick who flipped out at an Uber driver and got rapidly canned?)
- As stated above, theft or academic dishonesty could do it (imagine that it suddenly comes to light that you lied extensively on your residency app...)

Drop some racial slurs in front of a few patients etc and you'll find out just how quickly the hammer comes down, especially if the patients scare up attention somehow.

This said, I wonder if this really was a patient safety-related incident and OP is just not really revealing it...generally when one gets sent home immediately this is happening either because you are an immediate threat to patients or because some sort of crime has just been committed.

My guess is that OP showed up plastered and/or reeking of pot smoke with bloodshot eyes etc...

Meh. I'm pretty sure that no matter what kind of slurs I were to drop at work, I wouldn't get fired the next day. Reprimanded, suspended, fine. But to be fired within a day? That's a whole nother level.

The rest I would group under my A) (criminal activity) or B) (drugs/ETOH)

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

I think there's more possibilities than this -

- Making blatantly racist, sexist or otherwise extremely politically incorrect remarks to patients or co-residents etc, especially if this caught the attention of the media somehow
- Doing something really stupid off-campus that gets posted to youtube (remember that drunk neurology chick who flipped out at an Uber driver and got rapidly canned?)
- As stated above, theft or academic dishonesty could do it (imagine that it suddenly comes to light that you lied extensively on your residency app...)

Drop some racial slurs in front of a few patients etc and you'll find out just how quickly the hammer comes down, especially if the patients scare up attention somehow.

This said, I wonder if this really was a patient safety-related incident and OP is just not really revealing it...generally when one gets sent home immediately this is happening either because you are an immediate threat to patients or because some sort of crime has just been committed.

My guess is that OP showed up plastered and/or reeking of pot smoke with bloodshot eyes etc...

I don't think any of those would get you canned immediately.
I've seen examples of the above and none got them canned that quickly.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

Try this:

Patient gets admitted to your county hospital ICU but is a veteran. Rather than rendering any care to this patient, you spend all your time figuring out how to transfer him to the neighboring VA. The pt eventually codes and dies.

This resident (who was at my program years ago) got ****canned pretty damn quickly.

Sounds like a story someone posted on SDN awhile ago, don't think it came from you. Sounds negligent, probably warrants a firing but I doubt that quickly. Depends on how deep in doo-doo he was prior to this incident.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

wow, your hospital crew clearly knew how to party!

I wish I went to her residency.

 

[Phloston]

I'd imagine any type of complaint/concern by a staff member or patient, even if EtOH-/drug-/sex-related, would have at least incited an ostensible investigation prior to termination.

It's possible it was something caught on camera that couldn't be refuted (e.g., pocketing packs of meds, overt sexual misconduct). Because something without evidence at an unequivocal/undeniable level, as I'll reiterate, would most certainly require even the most ostensible investigation/presentation of statements/facts first.

 

[Wordead]

Try this:

Patient gets admitted to your county hospital ICU but is a veteran. Rather than rendering any care to this patient, you spend all your time figuring out how to transfer him to the neighboring VA. The pt eventually codes and dies.

This resident (who was at my program years ago) got ****canned pretty damn quickly.

I spend most of my day trying to figure out how to send patients off to other services or back to wherever the hell they came from.

 

[keifernny2]

I just read something in my local news that fits this story to a T.

I don't want to post the link for fear of worsening this former resident's life any more, but with publicity involved, I think OP may not be able to make it in clinical medicine.

If OP were an attending, then I think he could probably just have changed jobs & relocated to get the spotlight off of him, but getting another program to take a chance on him might be a lot harder (unless they are desperate to fill the position). If he can talk his PD into giving a good reference that will probably make a big difference.

Otherwise, it may be worth it to look at a career change.

 

[DrZeke]

I just read something in my local news that fits this story to a T.

I don't want to post the link for fear of worsening this former resident's life any more, but with publicity involved, I think OP may not be able to make it in clinical medicine.

If OP were an attending, then I think he could probably just have changed jobs & relocated to get the spotlight off of him, but getting another program to take a chance on him might be a lot harder (unless they are desperate to fill the position). If he can talk his PD into giving a good reference that will probably make a big difference.

Otherwise, it may be worth it to look at a career change.

OMG I just read an article too about recent termination of a resident. I hope this is not OP...


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[Merely]

SHARE WHAT YOU READ OR STFU

 

[keifernny2]

There is always the option, that OP could work as an assistant or office manager in her office. He could, with his background, be quite useful in that type of role Having a private practice with an intelligent spouse that is able to manage your business can increase productivity and profit dramatically, even if he wasn't doing the clinical decision making.

I know a number of physicians that have the spouse as an office manager and it seems to work quite well (as long as you get along).

 

[DrZeke]

SHARE WHAT YOU READ OR STFU

This might be an anonymous thread but chill with the caps. No need to flip out. You can search for "resident fired" or "Doctor fired" and it should pop up on google.


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