non-renewal of contract

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If they met with you previously about not being up to par, that was a warning that you were headed down the "non-promotion" or "non-renewal" pathway. If they gave you things to work on at that meeting, they may have considered that a remediation plan, although it sounds like they were holding off at that time from putting you on probation. But that's for the GME office/omsbudman to figure out.

1. You cannot get credit to start at a PGY 2 level if you did not do the equivalent requirements of a PGY1 IM resident. You may get credit for some rotations depending on the PD, however, it is entirely up to the new PD's discretion.
2. You can apply to anything (within reason depending on your LORs, Step scores, etc.) as a PGY 1 to start over. Depending on your PGY1 year (I am guessing it was a TY internship?), you may get credit in fields also requiring a TY year to look at advanced PGY 2 spots.
3. If you get yourself off probation and turn things around, it should not impede your career. Keep in mind that every job you get going forward is going to contact this program and ask about your performance; if it's a "s/he struggled early on in 2nd year, and then managed to resolve those early concerns and became an excellent resident" type of review, it shouldn't cause problems. If there is a pattern of subpar or borderline ability as you continue in your career (e.g. you change to a new program and the new program has concerns), that could make things much tougher for you.
4. I don't see why not.
5. It sounds like this program is not a good place for you. If you can improve your performance, would you want to stay or wish you were elsewhere? In some ways, they are being kind by telling you now, so you have time to look for a new program with 6-7 months notice. Many residents get far less notice than this.
 
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Trigger warning: This post isn't going to make you happy.

Your definition of the problem is incorrect. It's not that "you're not making progress". It's that "you're not making fast enough progress". If your program warned you early on (by feedback) that your performance was behind your peers, what they wanted you to do was get caught up to your peers by the middle of the year. You might feel this is too fast of a timeline, and that they were not that specific about it, but that's the truth. In addition, once you get an official warning, they want your major mistakes / problems to stop, and most likely they didn't.

So, advice:

1. You are welcome to contest this. Problem is, you will likely lose in the end. What you can contest is whether they followed the appropriate protocol or not. If not -- if they should put you on probation first -- that's what they will do. Put you on probation, and then probably terminate you. Yes, if you do win this and then make a huge turnaround where your performance rapidly improves, then you will continue. But you need to ask yourself how likely that is. Remember that they need to know at least 3-4 months in advance of the end of the year whether they are going to continue you -- that gives you until March to improve to the point that you're on track for a CA-2 in July. It is totally up to your program whether they want to extend your CA-1 training into next year.

2. Getting another position in Anesthesia is going to be difficult. Anesthesia is a mid-competitive field. Programs are not going to be excited about taking someone who has already been non-renewed. You had trouble keeping up with your colleagues in your CA-1, it's quite possible you'll have trouble in future years also (although you might not, programs might not want to take the risk). You can apply to AOA programs, I can't speak to how competitive they are. Note that your residency funding is locked into 4 years (for 100% funding), so repeating your CA-2 year at this point will require that a program take less than full funding -- which they may or may not do.

3. You need a Plan B and Plan C. Plan B can be getting another Anesthesia spot, but if that fails (and there is a good chance that it will), you need a Plan C which is applying into another field. As mentioned you may get some credit for your CBY, but no more than 6 months and you should plan on getting zero credit, anything more than that is a bonus. You still run into the funding problem in another field -- everything is 3 years long, and you'll only have 2 years of full funding. There's nothing you can do about this, but it may limit your options.

4. Applying to ERAS/NRMP to participate in SOAP is a good idea. But you need a plan for what you're applying to. Chances of getting an anesthesia spot in SOAP are not good. You could try to get an anesthesia spot unfilled in the AOA match -- those results come out before NRMP.

Bottom line: If you want any chance of staying in your current program, you need to improve your performance immediately. Any respite you get based upon contesting their decision will only lead to ill will, more scrutiny, probation, and termination unless you improve now. That may be impossible, and you'll need to decide whether your time/effort is better spent trying to save your current position or get a new one.
 
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medicine is such a cutthroat field of work....

but unlike other fields of occupation, once youre deemed 'incompetent' (based on subjective evaluations, of course), then you're labeled with the scarlet letter for the duration of your training.

un-f'ing-believable

I'm sorry man, good luck with your continuing efforts.
 
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Interview the best you can
Be prepared to honestly tell what happened.
You need to come up with a proper way of phrasing things such that it isn't damning but at the same time shows you have realized the situation and can improve in a change of scenery with a fresh start.
 
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update: I have found a position in anesthesia at a different program; got good LORs from my program, sent them all my other info, they were pretty impressed by my CV and told me the PD wants to meet with me. How should i prepare for this interview, at this point how tough will it be for me secure the position? will this interview be pretty much like interviewing for residency a few years ago? as far as I know they only want me to meet with the PD not multiple interviews like during residency interviews? I feel optimistic but dont want to get hopes too high. thanks again
While the interview will be similar to those you had for residency, obviously a big portion of the interview will center on why you are leaving your current position, the difficulties you had there (if they already know), and how you are improving things. That they are interviewing you over someone without red flags might suggest the program has its own red flags, but beggars can't be choosers.

Just close the deal and then be aware that you are going to be under the microscope and need to be a solid resident from here on out, even if it means coming in earlier, staying later, and grabbing every unappealing opportunity with a smile. This is your second, and possibly last chance. Don't worry about what others are doing/getting away with or what's fair -- your new bosses need to constantly feel like they got a steal by bringing you aboard. So if they, say, give you a schedule where you are working 75 hours a week and no elective time (to "catch you up") while your peers work 65, and get more electives, less ICU or whatever, you just smile and celebrate the additional training.
 
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While the interview will be similar to those you had for residency, obviously a big portion of the interview will center on why you are leaving your current position, the difficulties you had there (if they already know), and how you are improving things. That they are interviewing you over someone without red flags might suggest the program has its own red flags, but beggars can't be choosers.

Just close the deal and then be aware that you are going to be under the microscope and need to be a solid resident from here on out, even if it means coming in earlier, staying later, and grabbing every unappealing opportunity with a smile. This is your second, and possibly last chance. Don't worry about what others are doing/getting away with or what's fair -- your new bosses need to constantly feel like they got a steal by bringing you aboard. So if they, say, give you a schedule where you are working 75 hours a week and no elective time (to "catch you up") while your peers work 65, and get more electives, less ICU or whatever, you just smile and celebrate the additional training.

Let me paraphrase: bend over and take it like a man.
 
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L2D speaks the truth with regards to this.
You will be considered a transplant and not "one of their own" until you finish and graduate.
You will get the hardest schedule. You will be expected to play the rules to the T and you won't be getting any slack or be given a cushion for something one of their own would be getting.

Work hard and ask lots of questions with regards to their program, systems-based stuff, etc. and show your experience and skills. You may gain favor of certain faculty this way, while. Other faculty will still have reservations. Thank them not with words but by your attitude and performance. Don't burden yourself and cause yourself to implode, but now you know how to work through things and not make the same mistakes. ASK if you don't know something.
 
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medicine is such a cutthroat field of work....

but unlike other fields of occupation, once youre deemed 'incompetent' (based on subjective evaluations, of course), then you're labeled with the scarlet letter for the duration of your training.

un-f'ing-believable

I'm sorry man, good luck with your continuing efforts.

Very true and seems to be more common apparently.

I don't have much to add other than just to do anything you can, whether than means staying if your field or switching.

If you look hard enough, you will find something out there for you. It sucks but you have to find something.
 
To OP, what AProgDirector and Chudat said are absolutely correct. But better to realistically understand the dire situation you are in. To put it bluntly, barring a miracle you are done at your current program. And i say this with no bad intention, but i have seen this very same story play out before. PM if any questions and keep your head up
 
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medicine is such a cutthroat field of work....

but unlike other fields of occupation, once youre deemed 'incompetent' (based on subjective evaluations, of course), then you're labeled with the scarlet letter for the duration of your training.

un-f'ing-believable

I'm sorry man, good luck with your continuing efforts.
What high paying, highly skilled fields are fine with incompetence? Catastrophic mistakes terminate careers in almost any field. A pattern of more minor mistakes that aren't being learned from also results in termination. Do you want to be taken care of by an incompetent attending? It's fine to extend sympathy to someone that's in a tough place (I hope the interview went well) but acting like this is some unfair BS that only exists in medicine does a disservice to everyone who takes your statement at face value.
 
What high paying, highly skilled fields are fine with incompetence? Catastrophic mistakes terminate careers in almost any field. A pattern of more minor mistakes that aren't being learned from also results in termination. Do you want to be taken care of by an incompetent attending? It's fine to extend sympathy to someone that's in a tough place (I hope the interview went well) but acting like this is some unfair BS that only exists in medicine does a disservice to everyone who takes your statement at face value.

No one is arguing that incompetence is dangerous. But the issue at hand is the OP may or may not have been unfairly labeled and hence his mistakes are magnified when other residents making the same mistakes is not a big deal. I've seen this occur in my career and it is unfair but unfortunately hard to shed. His best bet is a fresh start at a new program
 
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No one is arguing that incompetence is dangerous. But the issue at hand is the OP may or may not have been unfairly labeled and hence his mistakes are magnified when other residents making the same mistakes is not a big deal. I've seen this occur in my career and it is unfair but unfortunately hard to shed. His best bet is a fresh start at a new program

Agree.

A lot of times, there is a reason to let someone go.
However, there are occasions when all it takes are a few attendings to create the perfect storm.
 
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