Nonrenewal of Contract for any Reason?

[ShortDoctor]

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I've been reading the forums a bit more closely and notice an awful lot of stories where residents face nonrenewal of their contracts despite having positive evaluations across the board. I understand this is rare, but do programs have the legal right to decline to offer you a contract for any reason??

It's a bit scary, thinking you've worked this far just to spend another several years training with the very scary possibility that you may not be renewed.

 

[Buzz Me]

If they've created a paper trail where they've documented your many mistakes, and their attempts to remediate you? Yeah, they can choose not to renew your (yearly) contract.

Not saying this is the case for everyone, but rarely do people here present all the facts as to why they're being let go - you're just hearing one side of the story, and most people being fired aren't going to honestly assess the situation, taking into account all of their shortcomings. Often it's a problem between how you think you're perceived by attendings, and what the reality is.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I've been reading the forums a bit more closely and notice an awful lot of stories where residents face nonrenewal of their contracts despite having positive evaluations across the board. I understand this is rare, but do programs have the legal right to decline to offer you a contract for any reason??

Residency contracts are on a yearly basis with the option for renewal. That is, you are not given a 3-7 year contract on your first day but rather a one year contract that you resign each year you are renewed. So yes, a program could legally not renew your contract for "any reason" but the vast majority are going to have a paper trail of long-standing problems which they feel warrant non-renewal.

It's a bit scary, thinking you've worked this far just to spend another several years training with the very scary possibility that you may not be renewed.

It is scary, but as Buzz notes, we don't hear all of the story here on SDN. While a failure to be completely honest on SDN may well be a factor, I would venture that a good number of the posters who complain about being unfairly fired simply have very little insight into their problems. On some of the longer threads, this becomes readily apparent to almost everyone but the OP; therefore, it becomes reasonable to assume that the picture is not as the OP is painting it. It happens to all of us; our "mirrors" are necessarily reflecting back the truth.

Finally, bear in mind that the vast majority of SDN members and residents in general complete residency without any significant problems and go on to practice in the field of their choice. We have a select population here which would leave you to believe that everyone is at a malignant program, fired without cause or wants to change specialties.

 

[laxman310]

An excellent review of this may be found through lexisnexis which you can probably access through your academic library. As of now the case law looks to disfavor medical residents. If you think about it, most of these institutions are state universities, so it comes as no surprice that judges choose in the institutions favor.

https://litigation-essentials.lexis...cid=3B15&key=502ed991cce7e63ca2636692e6e58e0f

 

[dragonfly99]

Your contract is for 1 year at a time, and they can pretty much fire you for any reason that they find...and they can find a reason if they want to. Most places won't fire people or nonrenew them on a whim because it's a pain for them to find another resident. Also, most program directors have some scruples and realize that firing a resident is a big deal (for that resident's career). However, just like other people some program directors tend to play favorites, and some are more "harsh" while some are more forgiving of errors or mistakes or just different personality traits. Ditto for department chairs and ditto for programs in general. It's important to find a place where you "fit" well if possible, to lower the risk of something bad happening to you.
In any case I assume you're already matched so better not to obsess about it all and try to bloom where you are planted.

 

[HondoCrouch]

While there are always exceptions, this is extremely unlikely to happen to you unless you deserve it.

 

[gutonc]

While there are always exceptions, this is extremely unlikely to happen to you unless you deserve it.

In which case, of course, it won't be for no reason.

As mentioned above, 99% of the stories about this that you read here are missing at least one major piece of relevant information.

The actual number of residents being let go out of sheer malice on the part of a PD approaches (but does not actually reach) zero.