Shutting down.

I'm not sure of the intracacies of the process, having not gone through it at all, but the Neurosurgery program at Downstate recently shut down and I believe all the residents found spots elsewhere (dunno where though).

 

The programs that get shut down all have been on probation for a number of years. So if you match into such a program, you have been forewarned. Although they are not obligated to, many programs will try to help you transfer. Coming from a presumably "inferior" program, you may not get a straight lateral move and maybe required to repeat a year or six months. The best your old program can help you is to assist with the expenses for interviewing and to give you the time off to do so.

 

Another possibility is for the hospital to shut down because of a lack of funds. The word I heard about UCLA-Harbor was that LA County was closing the hospital because of a massive budget shortfall. All the residents in all their programs would have had to try and find positions elsewhere. Maybe someone familiar with the problem could substantiate this rumor?

 

I've asked around (including program directors on this issue). Generally, resident spots are budgeted many years in advance and if a program closes due to whatever reasons (even financial) from an accounting stand point the funds are still available. what this means is that the residents of the program are essentially free bodies for whoever wants to take them. As long as the program they are going to does not exceed its ACGME alloted residency positions, that program would be more than happy to pickup the residents. so if you're a good resident from a good program. more than likely you will find a program who will take you because they benefit 100%.

peace,

 

Where can you find information about a program being on probation? The only thing I can find is if they have lost their accreditation status.

 

How do you know which residency programs are on probation?

Go to the ACGME site, www.acgme.org
You have to look up each program up individually
In the left sidebar, go to the area where it says search program by location
Enter the state and specialty
You get a list of the programs
Click on "view details" for the program you are interested in
The accreditation stuff is at the bottom of all the info they show
You are looking for "continued full accreditation"
there is also probational accreditation, provisional accreditation, and continued provisional accreditation. The latter two are not considered adverse actions by the ACGME. They tend to be used when two programs merge and the ACGME, before fully certifying a program, wants to keep a closer eye on it.
The site also lists the next site review date--sometimes that review date is in the past though--when I called the ACGME they said that program was "due for a visit"--they abviously hadn't gone yet...