- Joined
- Jul 13, 2013
- Messages
- 12
- Reaction score
- 2
I went through academic probation and contract non-renewal during my intern year. I have now matched at another program (yay!) however, I want to update my FCVS profile and need to describe the "reason for probation" at my initial program. Since whatever I write has the potential to follow me throughout my career I want to be particularly careful in what I say--my former program has submitted a statement to the effect of "This person did not meet terms of probation and contract was not renewed."
What I have below is my "draft' of what to enter into the FCVS "explanation of probation" text box.
2. Probation
Yes--During one of my initial intern year rotations I expressed several concerns about the quality of patient care and perceived deviance from evidenced based practices. My concerns were dismissed and after expressing these concerns, I noticed that my performance was placed under scrutiny and the quality of my interactions with team members and attendings dramatically shifted. I was given an "unsatisfactory" evaluation by the attendings I had questioned on the rotation and this evaluation resulted in me being required to repeat the rotation and complete a four month probation period. I was not informed of the required probation period until three months later, at which time I had completed three interim rotations satisfactorily without incident. I protested the terms of my probation because they depended upon the subjective evaluations of both my peers and attendings rather than any behavioral modification that could be objectively measured. I also requested that my probation evaluations not be completed by the initial attendings who gave me the unsatisfactory evaluation because I felt these attendings were not objective in their assessments of me. I was promised that my evaluations would be done by other attendings, however, this did not end up happening and the terms of my probation were maintained. Although the repeated rotation and all subsequent rotations were passed satisfactorily, the minor terms of probation related to interpersonal communication and practice based learning and improvement were not met, due specifically to evaluations filled out by those particular attendings that I specifically requested not be a part of my unbiased probation evaluations. I spoke with the GME director who informed me that I had multiple points to appeal the probation. At no time were my clinical duties ever modified or lessened nor were there concerns about my clinical safety or professional conduct. Because my initial concerns about the quality of patient care at this particular institution were never resolved, and because of how I was treated by the program administration, rather than appeal, I decided that I would prefer to complete my training elsewhere. Therefore, it was mutually decided that I was not "a good fit" for the program and/or specialty at which time I began to pursue training elsewhere and my contract was not renewed. I did complete my intern year and received credit for 12 months of training.
My question is this: what is the best way for me to approach this? Do I just let it go? If it is better for medical boards to know, then how do I explain, ( in as few words as possible) that the contract non-renewal was due to "personality conflicts" and not clinical or professional issues? Especially since my program didn't clarify this? Should I consult a lawyer?
What I have below is my "draft' of what to enter into the FCVS "explanation of probation" text box.
2. Probation
Yes--During one of my initial intern year rotations I expressed several concerns about the quality of patient care and perceived deviance from evidenced based practices. My concerns were dismissed and after expressing these concerns, I noticed that my performance was placed under scrutiny and the quality of my interactions with team members and attendings dramatically shifted. I was given an "unsatisfactory" evaluation by the attendings I had questioned on the rotation and this evaluation resulted in me being required to repeat the rotation and complete a four month probation period. I was not informed of the required probation period until three months later, at which time I had completed three interim rotations satisfactorily without incident. I protested the terms of my probation because they depended upon the subjective evaluations of both my peers and attendings rather than any behavioral modification that could be objectively measured. I also requested that my probation evaluations not be completed by the initial attendings who gave me the unsatisfactory evaluation because I felt these attendings were not objective in their assessments of me. I was promised that my evaluations would be done by other attendings, however, this did not end up happening and the terms of my probation were maintained. Although the repeated rotation and all subsequent rotations were passed satisfactorily, the minor terms of probation related to interpersonal communication and practice based learning and improvement were not met, due specifically to evaluations filled out by those particular attendings that I specifically requested not be a part of my unbiased probation evaluations. I spoke with the GME director who informed me that I had multiple points to appeal the probation. At no time were my clinical duties ever modified or lessened nor were there concerns about my clinical safety or professional conduct. Because my initial concerns about the quality of patient care at this particular institution were never resolved, and because of how I was treated by the program administration, rather than appeal, I decided that I would prefer to complete my training elsewhere. Therefore, it was mutually decided that I was not "a good fit" for the program and/or specialty at which time I began to pursue training elsewhere and my contract was not renewed. I did complete my intern year and received credit for 12 months of training.
My question is this: what is the best way for me to approach this? Do I just let it go? If it is better for medical boards to know, then how do I explain, ( in as few words as possible) that the contract non-renewal was due to "personality conflicts" and not clinical or professional issues? Especially since my program didn't clarify this? Should I consult a lawyer?