Residency swap with incentive

[akr3958]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I'm currently a prelim intern in an ACGME-accredited program and set to start residency at this same hospital (in City A) in my desired specialty next year (July 2015). All is well except for the fact that my significant other is hundreds of miles away (in City B) and we want to get married. He has a very successful career with no remotely comparable opportunities in City A, and longer term we want to live where he is now in City B.

We're getting to the age where we want to settle down and start our lives, and I'm ready to switch programs to do that. I've looked in the relevant places and there aren't any opportunities available in my desired specialty in City B. It's worth a lot to us to make this happen, so here's my idea and where I'm asking for guidance. If we could find an interested resident, we'd be willing to pay them to make this direct swap happen.

Residents are a heavily indebted bunch and I see it as a win-win: I get to be with my soon-to-be husband, and the other resident gets help toward their loans. This is an agreement between two private parties acting on their own free will. Of course, if either program objects to the other resident for any reason then the entire swap is off. There's no financial arrangement with either program.

So what do you think? I looked at ACGME rules but can't find anything that would indicate this is a problem.

Thanks!

 

[IMPD]

Why not pay the PDs involved as well?

😉

Just kidding!

Offering an incentive to swap 2+ years of training seems like an idea that many people have thought of and not many have made come to fruition. So, I would say the main barrier here is practical, not moral, ethical or legal.

You really need to find a resident who *wants* to switch and is a good caliber resident, really equal to your caliber. And then you have to get two PDs to agree. This is all a huge pain in the ass. Money can grease many wheels, but nothing greases wheels like the motivation of two kids who want to be together. So, my bottom line suggestion is to work the love angle first.

 

[organdonor]

More just out of curiosity I'm wondering how much money you think you'll need to offer in order to get the kind of results you want. How much would I have to get paid before I up and moved after a year of establishing myself in a residency?

You'd of course have to figure in expenses for housing and moving and of course it would be opening yourself up to headaches of learning a new system/place/people. You'd basically be an intern again (hopefully not in terms of clinical acumen but more in actual "how do I order this test" or "what tab are those test results under" ).

I would think I would need $50k or so before I would even think of moving. But that's just me I'm happy where I am and married so maybe for others that number is lower.

 

[gutonc]

More just out of curiosity I'm wondering how much money you think you'll need to offer in order to get the kind of results you want. How much would I have to get paid before I up and moved after a year of establishing myself in a residency?

You'd of course have to figure in expenses for housing and moving and of course it would be opening yourself up to headaches of learning a new system/place/people. You'd basically be an intern again (hopefully not in terms of clinical acumen but more in actual "how do I order this test" or "what tab are those test results under" ).

I would think I would need $50k or so before I would even think of moving. But that's just me I'm happy where I am and married so maybe for others that number is lower.

50% more than the total remaining salary and median rent for the remaining # of years in the new location. Then we'll talk. You're looking at something in the neighborhood of $175-200K with that calculation (assuming salary ~$55K/y and using the median US rent...a joke for most of us...of ~$750/mo). I'd go for that.

As a total douchebag I used to work for in high school always said, "never compromise your integrity for less than $100000". That was in the late 1980s, so, using the CPI inflation calculation, that's currently worth $182K. Which is remarkably identical to my calculation.

So there you go, cut me a cashier's check for $200K and we've got a deal.

 

[rokshana]

yeah…i don't see anyone doing that for less than 6 digits…unless of course your program in City A is leaps and bounds over the program in City B (basically prestigious uni program for a no name community program would be something someone might be willing to do…).

ummm….did you not see this as a problem last year? or did it somehow rear its ugly head this year?

 

[Doctor Bob]

When it was time to interview for the categorical spot, did you apply in city B?