Termination from residency based on allegations of unjustified access to PHI

[neissin]

Hi! I was an intern in a program in US. I received a termination letter from my PD saying that i had accessed charts of patients i was not treating. A few weeks earlier, i was notified by my program that IT had detected that charts of 5 patients were accessed from my account in a span of 10 minutes. I explained to them and also in a meeting with IT that I did not do anything as such, and have no idea how this could have happened from my account. They made it appear at that time as if they just wanted to see what went wrong and what could be done to prevent this in future. Never i imagined of a termination.
I had the option of internal appeal, which i did go through. And they just decided to uphold the decision. I got an employment lawyer while making the appeal, which wasn’t of much help.
I do not know how to go about from here. Being on a J-1 visa, and from talking to the immigration lawyers, it seems like I do not have any visa options of staying in US (I want to, because my wife is training here, on J-1 as well) except if I go back and apply for B1/B2 or a J1 research. With my visa being annulled, i feel my chances of getting any visa would be minimal. Even if I do get a visa and apply for a residency this fall, being accused of misconduct and terminated would make my chances of matching into any program or residency negligible. We IMGs spend 2-3 years going theough USMLEs and match, even if i plan for some other country like Canada, UK or Australia, i am worried if all this eill affect my chances there. Do you guys recommend I apply in US or not waste time and try for other countries? If the latter, which one would be the easiest and shortest, if any idea.
Also, would you recommend I file a court case to clear my name and have the opportunity of some future in US?
I want to be in clinical profession, but if I consider MPH, what are the job opportunities with that?

Will appreciate any thoughts!

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[NotAProgDirector]

You're missing some of the picture. What happened is this: your account was used to access 5 charts, at least one of which was someone important. Many EMR's have the ability to alert employees when their charts are accessed, or someone that was accessed had an alert on their chart. Otherwise, no one would ever notice something like this.

Most likely, what happened is that you left yourself logged into a computer somewhere, then someone else came up and accessed the charts under your account. But if this is the case, you remain fully responsible for the problem.

So, plan:

1. Once you are terminated, you are immediately out of status. The 30 day grace period for J visa holders apparently only applies if you complete training successfully.
2. Your best visa option is a J2. Your wife is on a J1? Then you can get a spousal J2. It's a full work visa, and it's basically automatic.
3. Getting a new spot in the US is going to be a challenge. Will another program take a chance on you? Maybe, if you explain what happened, take responsibility, and convince them that it will never happen again.
4. "A court case to clear your name" is unrealistic. Your account was used to access charts. No matter how this happened, you're responsible. Even if your wife stole your password and logged into the system to access protected charts as a mechanism to get you deported and get rid of you, you're still responsible for the privacy violation.

 

[neissin]

You're missing some of the picture. What happened is this: your account was used to access 5 charts, at least one of which was someone important. Many EMR's have the ability to alert employees when their charts are accessed, or someone that was accessed had an alert on their chart. Otherwise, no one would ever notice something like this.

Most likely, what happened is that you left yourself logged into a computer somewhere, then someone else came up and accessed the charts under your account. But if this is the case, you remain fully responsible for the problem.

So, plan:

1. Once you are terminated, you are immediately out of status. The 30 day grace period for J visa holders apparently only applies if you complete training successfully.
2. Your best visa option is a J2. Your wife is on a J1? Then you can get a spousal J2. It's a full work visa, and it's basically automatic.
3. Getting a new spot in the US is going to be a challenge. Will another program take a chance on you? Maybe, if you explain what happened, take responsibility, and convince them that it will never happen again.
4. "A court case to clear your name" is unrealistic. Your account was used to access charts. No matter how this happened, you're responsible. Even if your wife stole your password and logged into the system to access protected charts as a mechanism to get you deported and get rid of you, you're still responsible for the privacy violation.

Thanks for replying.
1. Yes, i agree that my J-1 has expired with termination.
2. ECFMG has denied me J2 with this being a reportable action.

 

[FutureInternist]

Even if your wife stole your password and logged into the system to access protected charts as a mechanism to get you deported and get rid of you, you're still responsible for the privacy violation.

Damn... that’d be devious.
Kinda like the guy in UK who put his wife on the No Fly List once she left UK.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/id/41372870

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Thanks for replying.
1. Yes, i agree that my J-1 has expired with termination.
2. ECFMG has denied me J2 with this being a reportable action.

Not being able to get a J-2 is an enormous problem. I don't see any other feasible pathway to stay in the US. Even a B visitor visa will be problematic, as you usually can't use those to stay in the US for years, and when USCIS reviews your app and sees your wife is on a J and will be here in the US for some time, they may decide that you're high risk to overstay.

If your wife completes her residency and then gets a waiver, that would convert her J to an H. You might then be able to get an H4 visa. This used to be a non-working visa, but recent changes have allowed work on this visa (? I think). But after a delay like that, chances of getting a new US residency spot are not good. And if you're being rejected for a J2, you'd probably be rejected for a new J1 even if you could find a program willing to take you.

 

[AdmiralChz]

@aProgDirector’s knowledge of the various visas and the processes involved is really quite impressive. Well done!