How common is it for residents to be fired? What are the most common reasons?
I think its uncommon. That said, it happened on occasion in my program to advanced categoricals.
Most common reason likely is gross negligence or incompetence.
Lying (a reason why one of ours was reportedly fired).
Low ABSITE scores (although technically not supposed to be used, reportedly are at a number of places).
Violation of signed contract (ie, if you agreed not to moonlight but were caught doing it).
And apparently, taking photographs of a patient's penis, if not relevant to the surgery being performed, and showing it to other people.
You should NOT get fired for:
technical skills (presumably you are safe, even if not talented)
drug and alcohol use (you need to be referred to a program)
knowledge base (programs should have a remediation policy)
obvious things like gender, ethnicity, religion, marital status, physical handicaps, pregnancy or illness
Most residents should not have to worry about being fired. BUT, your contract is year to year and it would not be unheard of for a program to refuse to offer a resident a contract for the following year. Personality differences are often a key element - ie, the abrasive resident that doesn't get along well with colleagues and allied health staff. These are usually cases where lots of "evidence" is compiled against the resident. "Evidence" that would go unnoticed with a popular or well-liked resident.
So if you find yourself in the former camp make sure all your charts are signed on time, dictations are done asap, that there aren't nursing and patient complaints about you, your ABSITE scores are decent, etc.
