resign or get fired

[mamamimi]

Hello I am in such a mess I started a residency in july and have now been asked to resign as They say I am not progressing at the same speed as the other residents, which I must say are all AMGs. I am from AUC. I was put on remediation for 6 weeks which I felt was never fair. They had thier minds made up from the beginning.there were nver any concrete guidelines for me to improve. I would ask and they woul give vague examples of what needed to improve.They throughout kept going back to when i has first started and my speed on the computer system which there are 2 different ones .
My question is should I resign or let them fire me. I have 2 children and a wife and if I resign I will not get any unemployment and my loans will come due. I can put them in deferment if I get fired. Also I read that if I resign the program gets to keep the 140,000 they got for me and if they fire me they have to give it back is this true. They are trying to blackmail me by saying if I resign they will then see how they can help me and if they have to fire me It could be worse. The Director is more likely to giv me a good review if another program calls about me if I resign, not so if they have to fire me. I am so lost and don't know who to talk with to get advice or counsel. Any help Thanks

[ChanceCount]

A couple of things.

1.)You certainly don't want to lose sight of the big picture (ie getting another residency) when you think about unemployment insurance vs. resigning. It would be tremendously helpful for you to remain amicable with your current program rather than burning those bridges.

2.) You probably need greater insight into what went wrong with your current program. While you might have gotten on the wrong side of the wrong person, it's likely that they had serious misgivings about some of your work. Getting your work done in a timely fashion is a reason to fire you. You would be best served closely examining what went wrong and how you can improve it.

3.) This forum is helpful, but a forum like Studentdoc.net has a General Residency Issue portion that has a lot more attending level doctors that could offer excellent advice on your current situation.

[MaxPower311]

A couple of things.

1.)You certainly don't want to lose sight of the big picture (ie getting another residency) when you think about unemployment insurance vs. resigning. It would be tremendously helpful for you to remain amicable with your current program rather than burning those bridges.

2.) You probably need greater insight into what went wrong with your current program. While you might have gotten on the wrong side of the wrong person, it's likely that they had serious misgivings about some of your work. Getting your work done in a timely fashion is a reason to fire you. You would be best served closely examining what went wrong and how you can improve it.

3.) This forum is helpful, but a forum like Studentdoc.net has a General Residency Issue portion that has a lot more attending level doctors that could offer excellent advice on your current situation.

I tend to agree with the above post. You're future is more important than money lost or deferment or anything like that.

[From NJ]

Is this FM, IM, or which one? Be sure to check with the experts in employment areas and those who have dealt with similar professional situations.

It is not the first time, these situations have come before with others.

Unfortunately, it may cost you to get help from experts, but they should be able to protect your future professional standing.

No matter how bad these people are, you must try your best to leave (if you have to) on positive terms (although not much positive may be).

If you resign, they may or may not help you as to future references. But, if they have to terminate your services, they could be very unhappy.

Hopefully, some other students may provide better guidance. But, try your best and ask around quickly (and secretly from your program officials and colleagues) to find out and contact the experts who have handled several of these issues.

There are employment issues and, more importantly, there is your future professional life.

You will need to preserve both. When you get time, let us know the update. Also, be sure to check this site, you never know some one may provide even better ideas.

It is very important for you to take wise steps.
Good luck!

[rokshana]

are you being asked to leave right away or have they told you that they will not be renewing your contract next yr?

somethings are just not sitting right, more probably because a lack of info...

was your remediation done officially as a result of an RPEC meeting? did you meet with your PD on a regular basis (usually interns will meet with the PD every quarter)? how did those meetings go? did you meet with your advisor or mentor on a quarterly basis? he/she can act as your advocate, but you have to talk to him/her so they know what is going on.

what was your remediation for...and what did they say you needed to do? and is it in writing? and did you do the things they told you to do?

how supprortive are your chiefs? have the been able to give you advice on what to do to fix things?

its less than 6 months so RPEC has probably only met once as a scheduled meeting, or did they call a special meeting because someone asked for it?

to be asked to leave so early, sorry, isn't usually about being slow or not learning the computer systems...its usually about a serious violation of a core compentency or repeated complaints about the same issues...tardiness, not completing notes, not working well with nursing staff, not working well with other interns or residents...but even then that gets you a failure of a rotation or remediation...not termination on the spot.

if they are not renewing your contract, the best route is to complete the yr and then leave...hopefully the PD will help you find another spot and there are attendings that you have worked well with and can help find another position...in the mean time work to improve the deficiencies that you have.

and sorry...but you can't sit here and say "poor me i'm an AUC grad in a sea of AMGs and that's why i'm not doing well"...there are PLENTY of AUC grads out there in predominately AMG programs and perform above expectations...keep focusing on that and history will just repeat itself...

also you should talk to a lawyer about what is the best result possible...the most important thing, as others have posted, is being able to maintain your ability to get another position.

[Ana82]

Can you appeal this at all? Can you ask to repeat a year or something (doubtful but worth a try). You need to first research thoroughly the rules at your hospitals, rules about residencies in general, and rules about your specific specialty.

Last resort talk to a very experienced lawyer... but unless he/she is specifically trained in this type of field, they cannot help much.

[brob311]

Agree with Rok on this one....termination usually means that you violated something more serious. The usual course of action is to have you repeat a rotation you were weak on, put on a probationary period, or have you repeat the whole year. If they are terminating you otherwise, it could just be a sketchy program.