Does your year count if you quit?

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Let's say you quit on June 29 as a PGY1 peds resident. Can you enter another program outside the match as a PGY2? Is there any problem with that?

Unless June 30th is your day off, I'd probably wait a day to quit. If you complete the year and choose not to return (and didn't sign a contract for next year already) then yes, your year would count. If you're leaving your current program b/c you have issues w/ leadership then I would be wary of giving your current PD any reason not to write you a LOR (which will be required for entering any other program, even at the PGY1 level) which says you performed adequately at a minimum. If you quit the day before your contract is up, your PD could legitimately say "Marsupial left the program before completing his/her PGY1 year" and you'd be hosed.

As for the 2nd part of your question, if you don't already have a slot lined up for July 1 then you're going to spend a year pulling shots at Starbuck's which won't exactly look good when you apply next year.
 
Agree with the above.

Are you planning on quitting during the year, or right after your last day?
 
If the ol' contract doesn't get renewed I would leave.
If I get another spot I would leave.
 
If the ol' contract doesn't get renewed I would leave.
If I get another spot I would leave.

This has been discussed at length here in years past and I actually have some experience with that.

We had a Prelim whose contract we were not going to renew for a variety of reasons. She found a PGY-2 position starting July 1. As soon as she signed that contract, she dropped her pager off and left our hospital.

I wish I knew how the story ended, but our PD did call her future PD to let him know that she did not finish PGY-1 (was a few months shy...wanna say she quit around April). She probably ended up extending her residency by that length of time but don't think you can quit early and get full credit for the year or that your new PD will never know.
 
Agree with the above.

Make sure your current PD knows you're leaving, and make sure you stay long enough to earn credit for your PGY-1 year!
 
Thanks very much for the input.

I'm trying to get the contract renewed but they said no guarantee.

I applied for position in different specialty, but should I try to hide the fact that I'm interviewing until I have contract in hand? what do I tell the interviewing program who wants to talk to 'people in my current program?" I was thinking have them talk to my confidante attending, not PD.
don't want to give them more excuses not to renew.
 
BTW I have no problem staying until the end of the year, but I was thinking if I left I could tell other places that it was due to 'personal issues' rather than not getting my contract renewed.
 
BTW I have no problem staying until the end of the year, but I was thinking if I left I could tell other places that it was due to 'personal issues' rather than not getting my contract renewed.

Uhmmm...what is your PD writing in their letter of reference to the new program? You cannot very well state it was personal issues if he/she is documenting other things in the letter to your new PD.
 
Thanks very much for the input.

I'm trying to get the contract renewed but they said no guarantee.

I applied for position in different specialty, but should I try to hide the fact that I'm interviewing until I have contract in hand? what do I tell the interviewing program who wants to talk to 'people in my current program?" I was thinking have them talk to my confidante attending, not PD.
don't want to give them more excuses not to renew.

More than likely the programs you are interviewing at will want an LOR from your current PD and will want to know their impression of why you are leaving.

It is bad form, therefore, to be interviewing for other positions without telling your current PD...last thing you want is another PD calling him/her for information about you and he didn't know you were looking elsewhere.

If the other programs want to talk to people in your current program and they do not specify the PD, then by all means find a sympathetic faculty member to talk to them, but IMHO most will want to talk to the PD. Best to be honest and up front about your plans on all fronts. If they are not renewing your contract, interviewing elsewhere is not going to change that...and since they told you they weren't going to, it shouldn't suprise them that you are looking elsewhere.
 
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