Plausible? Year off after PGY1 to care for ill family & moonlight?

[MildDryEye]

Hello,

I am currently a PGY1 (Prelim), currently scheduled to transition to Anesthesiology PGY2 on July 1 2013 at a different institution. I have an M.D. from a US school.

Family recently received an unexpected diagnosis. Prognosis isn't good, and she will likely require very close homecare down the road.

If needed, I'd like to be the one to care for her. Still finding out more about the diagnosis, but trying to plan for different scenarios at this time.

From a 1)Loan Repayment 2)Residency Program Funding 3)Licensing standpoint, what is the practicality/plausibility of taking a year off starting July 1 2013 and then resuming training for Anesthesia on July 1 2014 as a PGY2?

I will have taken Step 3 and will be licensed in my state. Are moonlighting opportunities available to doctors (i.e. Completed intern year, passed Step 3, with license) NOT currently in residency? I would certainly need some income during that time to help with her expenses (and I will have entered loan repayment).

Thank you.

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[cabinbuilder]

1. First find out if they will hold your spot in Anesthesia for a year? People do it all the time in FP, not sure about specialty.

2. Next find out if you can defer your loan payment due to family medical reasons. Usually they are pretty good about working with you during hardship.

3. You should be able to moonlight after intern year. Usually it's in some type of urgent care setting, or mental health physicals, etc.

4. Remember that you will need to provide your own malpractice insurance during moonlightling.

5. I don't think not being in residency will be an issue. What will be an issue with many jobs is not being board certified/board eligible.

6. You could also call a locums company and get some idea of availability of jobs for someone in your situation.

 

[peppy]

Sorry to hear about your relative's diagnosis.
Unfortunately even though it is technically possible to work with just one year of residency, it is NOT easy to actually find positions that will hire docs who aren't at least board eligible (finished residency).
Even though some people do get lucky and find positions in urgent cares or such, it's an uphill battle.
Staying in residency would be the safest option from a financial standpoint.
Your years of funding would not be affected. For licensing, it's likely that the licensing board would want you to account for what you were doing during that time but I doubt it would prevent you from getting licensed.

I personally would recommend talking to your advanced program about the situation and see if they will allow you to take a leave of absence to help your ill family member if she needs it rather than resigning the spot. Or you might even want to look into options for transferring to a closer residency program so you can at least visit frequently.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Don't forget that if you decide not to join your Anesthesia program in 2013, you need a match waiver for that. You will almost certainly get it if you describe the above situation. But even if your PD and you agree that you won't be joining them in 2013, you need a match waiver.

If your program gives you a 2014 spot, you MIGHT still need a waiver, but maybe not. In any case, call the NRMP and tell them the story. They will tell you what you need to do.

 

[shopsteward]

Sorry to hear about your relative's diagnosis

I think at the moment you need to be very careful about making assumptions on timing. You are less than 2 months into your prelim year, so you will be occupied full time until July 2013. You are then considering taking a year off, going back to full-time residency in July 2014. That's a pretty precise timetable, and disease doesn't usually run on those sorts of tramlines. So, what care will your relative have before and after your putative year off, and how will you being there during that year affect it? What will you do if the diseases progresses faster or slower? What if your relative dies unexpectedly from something else two weeks into July 2013?

If you are serious about taking a year out, your first action should be to explore whether your advanced program would delay your joining it for a year. If not, you would be looking for a new advanced program starting in July 2013. That would mean getting a match waiver and either going back into the match this autumn or trying to pick up a spot off-timetable if one became available.

Because the diagnoses for your relative is so unexpected, so serious and so recent, it will have been a big shock to you. Your response needs to be practical and loving, rather than dramatic or sentimental. It would probably be best if you give yourself a bit of time to get over that initial shock, and start dealing with your emotional response to it, before doing anything irrevocable.