A program wants me to sign and return a letter of agreement for a residency spot on Thursday (Feb 17), but there is another program that is interested in me also, but they are not making any calls/decisions until Friday (18th). If I sign and return the letter of agreement for the first program (with their contract coming around the end of the month), and then get an offer from the other program on Friday, am I legally bound by signing the letter of agreement to the first program? What do I do?
Getting out of Letter of Agreement???
- Thread starter cabalaska
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It depends.
First, the whole scenario you describe is a bit strange given the timing, if you're talking about allopathic programs. Rank lists are due next week, and quotas are set, so it would be strange for programs to be offering up spots like this. You could be talking about DO programs (since their match is done). It matters because there is a rule for DO programs in their program requirements which states:
If the first program argues that quitting after signing a letter of agreement (which probably states that you're not going to look for any more positions) is a contract violation, you could lose all spots.
In reality, your question depends on whether you want to know if it's legal to do so, or ethical to do so.
It's not legal, but there may be very little a program can do to you for doing it. It's simply not worth the time and effort to take you to court, and hard to know if a program could prove financial damages, and seems unlikely that you'd be able to pay. But they could, and make your life miserable. Even if you "win", it could be painful and expensive.
Whether it's ethical is a personal question.
My feeling is this: You're a grownup. Grown ups have to make tough decisions. This is one of them. Sign the letter and take the first spot, and give up the second. Or don't sign and try to get the second, but take a risk of getting nothing. Choose, and don't try to scam the system.
First, the whole scenario you describe is a bit strange given the timing, if you're talking about allopathic programs. Rank lists are due next week, and quotas are set, so it would be strange for programs to be offering up spots like this. You could be talking about DO programs (since their match is done). It matters because there is a rule for DO programs in their program requirements which states:
If the first program argues that quitting after signing a letter of agreement (which probably states that you're not going to look for any more positions) is a contract violation, you could lose all spots.
In reality, your question depends on whether you want to know if it's legal to do so, or ethical to do so.
It's not legal, but there may be very little a program can do to you for doing it. It's simply not worth the time and effort to take you to court, and hard to know if a program could prove financial damages, and seems unlikely that you'd be able to pay. But they could, and make your life miserable. Even if you "win", it could be painful and expensive.
Whether it's ethical is a personal question.
My feeling is this: You're a grownup. Grown ups have to make tough decisions. This is one of them. Sign the letter and take the first spot, and give up the second. Or don't sign and try to get the second, but take a risk of getting nothing. Choose, and don't try to scam the system.
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A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
