Withdrawal

Started by changemymind
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changemymind

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I am about to start my PGY-2 year in ophthalmology but due to very unfortunate personal reasons I am forced to withdraw from my position. Will this hurt my chances of obtaining a residency spot in the future?? Is it the kiss of death, like when you are kicked out, or will programs understand? I would love to stay in ophtho but if I need to be realistic, I should start looking at other specialties.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
changemymind said:
I am about to start my PGY-2 year in ophthalmology but due to very unfortunate personal reasons I am forced to withdraw from my position. Will this hurt my chances of obtaining a residency spot in the future?? Is it the kiss of death, like when you are kicked out, or will programs understand? I would love to stay in ophtho but if I need to be realistic, I should start looking at other specialties.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
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without more information(personal reasons can mean a lot of different things) it is impossible to answer this question.

Not in optho, but with optho being pretty competitive I wouldnt expect to get a second chance in optho. Depending on what the issue at hand is, you will certainly get second chances in other things
 
vistaril said:
without more information(personal reasons can mean a lot of different things) it is impossible to answer this question.

Not in optho, but with optho being pretty competitive I wouldnt expect to get a second chance in optho. Depending on what the issue at hand is, you will certainly get second chances in other things
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Considering this guy cannot spell "ophtho" correctly given 3 opportunities, I doubt you should listen to any of his advice. Not to mention his posting history shows him posting all over the psychiatry forum, so I'm not sure why he even responded to you.

Have you tried contacting your program first? Surely they would have the best answer for your situation.
 
My program is as supportive as they can be but aren't happy about losing a resident.

My reason for leaving is very legitimate and I'd like to think most programs will overlook the fact that I had to withdraw. Just looking for some personal stories maybe.
 
Sorry you are in an unfortunate situation. You need to carefully think whether this is the right decision for you. If you withdraw, you will always be considered a 'bad apple.' Your chances of matching into ophthalmology again would be close to zero. It is a very small community and word can travel quickly. Even if you have a legitimate reason, the programs are going to wonder whether you may drop out for other reasons. And, as you have already found out, programs are never happy to lose residents.

This may even affect your match into a different specialty, depending on how you spin it. Good luck..
 
changemymind said:
My program is as supportive as they can be but aren't happy about losing a resident.

My reason for leaving is very legitimate and I'd like to think most programs will overlook the fact that I had to withdraw. Just looking for some personal stories maybe.
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I can't imagine many(any?) personal reasons that would be acceptable to just withdrawl though.....maybe if you had a child who was very sick and would need intensive care for the next year and you were a single parent.....I guess. But without you telling us(and it is your right not to), I just don't see how this wouldn't be an enormous red flag.
 
rocketbooster said:
Considering this guy cannot spell "ophtho" correctly given 3 opportunities, I doubt you should listen to any of his advice. Not to mention his posting history shows him posting all over the psychiatry forum, so I'm not sure why he even responded to you.
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his question isn't unique to optho
 
Interestingly, I knew of one resident where I did my fellowship who withdrew from dermatology (by her account, for good reason, I never asked details as to why) who then matched into ophtho. So it can be done. She was a fairly competitive candidate and was a solid resident.

I'm sure when you re-apply program directors will be contacting your current faculty to get the full story. Best option is to be completely honest with everyone involved, as there will be a lot of back and forth between faculty. Be ready to answer lots of questions, some difficult, about the details of your withdrawal. I think if you have good, honest responses and that you are a solid candidate, you shouldn't have a huge problem getting into another field. Ophtho being as competitive as it is may be more difficult but can be done.
 
Is there an option to defer or take a leave of absence for maybe a year, rather than quitting? If it's a family/medical issue, could the FMLA help you get a leave?
 
I'm looking into FMLA, however since only 12 days until start of the program, it might be difficult to get everything done in terms of paperwork.

I consider myself a pretty competitive applicant (I was able to match a top 10 ophtho program) so I might take my chances. I also liked rad onc as a med student and might explore that avenue. Its still competitive but might be easier than ophtho,
 
changemymind said:
I'm looking into FMLA, however since only 12 days until start of the program, it might be difficult to get everything done in terms of paperwork.

I consider myself a pretty competitive applicant (I was able to match a top 10 ophtho program) so I might take my chances. I also liked rad onc as a med student and might explore that avenue. Its still competitive but might be easier than ophtho,
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Kinda hard to imagine rad-onc being easier than ophtho, especially given most of your preparation/rotations/research was probably in ophtho related subjects. Do you not like ophtho or would you continue if given the option once your life issues are stable? I knew a resident who switched to IM after he quit ophtho. I think a move to a general speciality like IM or gen surg is probably more likely than entering a super-competitive field like rad-onc or derm without having to rebuild your CV in the process. If you are set on entering a second competitive field, you might consider a research fellowship in the field before applying. Otherwise, stick to ophtho and reapply. Just be honest why you had to leave in the first place.👍
 
I'm sorry. Sounds like you are going through a rough time. Whatever it is, it sounds pretty serious.

It is entirely up to you and totally depends on your circumstances, but one could consider asking the program to see if they would let someone defer for a year. It's not unheard of. If they don't, then one could consider asking them to see if they would consider taking someone back once they returned/reapplied. I think the top programs may even be more accommodating, since they might theoretically have an easier time filling their position.

Good luck with everything.
 
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