Can my Fellowship Program cancel my contract?

[duhsville]

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Hi Everyone,
I know this is probably on here somewhere, but I searched and searched, and I can't find the answer I am looking for. Or, more accurately, the advice.

I failed my ABIM this year.(God, that still sucks to think about) I have a fellowship lined up for next year, at a different hospital than my residency program. I informed my residency program that I failed, we talked about it, it's fine.

The question now is:
1. Can my fellowship program cancel my contract or find someone else or...something for next year in my spot? I haven't officially signed anything, I just matched.
2. My first instinct is to tell them now,(I was waiting for my score report to come in so I know what exactly happened), but someone I know suggested I wait a few months so they have less time to find someone else to fill my spot(assuming they can, see question #1)


I feel like such a doofus, but whatever, it happened, it's over, time to start reviewing and studying again for next year. But knowing that they can't "un-match" me would be a big weight off of my mind!

 

[ProgCoordinator]

Does your letter state that your spot is contingent upon your being certified? I've yet to see that, so I feel safe saying that you're fine. Maybe aprogramdirector will pop in and advise. Sometimes new fellows fail ABIM. It happens. Be up front with your new Program Director.

 

[jdh71]

You don't have to be board certified to be in a fellowship.

 

[duhsville]

To be honest, I don't remember receiving a letter from my program. I did speak to my program director after the match, and we have spoken once since then, but I don't remember receiving any paperwork at all.

To be fair, I did move a few weeks after the match, and I did update my new address, but I don't know if a letter was sent and it somehow got lost on the way or if it never came at all.

 

[happypants5]

I don't think you have to worry about being "un-matched." You don't need to be board certified to be in a fellowship, however you do need to be certified to take your speciality boards of course. Since you have a year off between now and when you start you're definitely in a good position to study like crazy and not worry about the stress of fellowship. You'll do just fine! As for when to tell your new program director, it's up to you, I don't think it's wrong to tell them now or in a couple months.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

The match is a binding contract on both parties. You matched with a gap year, many don't -- and there would be no chance of them being board certified prior to starting. So, your spot is safe.

You are under no requirement to tell your new PD that you failed the boards. Feel free to do so if you want, but you are also welcome to keep it to yourself. Of course, nothing stops your new PD from going to the ABIM web site and checking for themselves (although all we would see is "not certified", can't tell "failed" from "didn't take").

 

[dragonfly99]

That's true. I skipped taking the boards right after graduating and took it a year later, and the secretary for my old IM program contacted me to find out whether I'd taken the test. I'm assuming she wanted to know, for some purpose, whether I'd taken them and failed or just didn't take it. I think they probably just wanted to know if any resident from their program failed the boards or not.

OP, if you aren't starting fellowship until next year, don't even tell them that you failed. They can't do anything to you, they won't be interested in doing so, and they are probably too busy to want to ask. Just take it next year and this time don't fail. You just need to take it in order to sit for cardiology boards.