Options after PGY-1

[Vabsmith]

Hello,
I am the husband of a PGY-1 Internal medicine resident.
I work from home while taking care of my 18month old son.

Since the residency is too hectic for all of us and my wife is not sure whether she can complete all three years I was wondering if doing just the first year is any good.
I was wondering if she stops her residency after PGY-1 are there ANY kind of job opportunities in the healthcare industry.

We do not have any student loans. My wife has done her residency in India and has a critical care degree from India. She thinks what she is learning in her community based program is too much efforts for what she is learning. She is on academic probation which is additional stress factor.

My view is that I find it very stressful to handle the work from home and taking care of our son and would rather do it only for an year instead of the three years.
In case there are any jobs she can go for only after PGY-1 we both would be happy to take that option.
Your suggestions are really appreciated.
Thanks

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

I have heard of consulting firms hiring MDs who have 1 year of residency under their belts in their healthcare practices. It would be the big guys (McKinsey, Bain, etc) typically that would do that. That being said, it's not necessarily a better life - those companies require a LOT of weekly travel and sometimes internationally for months. It's hard to imagine that being away from your son 3-4 days/week would be better than residency.

[diggitydot]

I think she can do locum tenens work with a completed intern year, but that usually involves a LOT of traveling and wouldn't help your home situation, at all.

Yes, she could get a job. No, the jobs available to docs who only finished intern year aren't great. Yes, it will likely still be stressful for everyone.

Residency is a LOT of work. It's stressful, busy, and sometimes ugly, but it's temporary.

How much time does she have left and why is she on probation?

[MissCrabette]

Wow, that's a tough one. I'm sorry I don't have any answers for you, as this has never even crossed my mind until now. Far too much work went into this process to stop so close to the end.

She'll have to let them know before signing the new contract around March, and I worry that they'd try to push her out before the year is over. They certainly have the documentation that she hasn't been performing up to their standards. That would really suck. I'm really sorry you're faced with this situation.

[Deebs]

She can work Urgent Care or look for consulting or insurance jobs. Intern year is so hard! Does she have a mentor she can work with to help get her through academic probation and continue on? With no student loan debt, can she use her education from before med school? I would think she could look toward pharmaceutical lab jobs if she has a chem or bio background.

[SuzySunshine]

We had a friend who went to work for McKinsey straight out of med school, no residency at all, so yes the jobs do exist. But like others said those jobs usually require a lot of travel, SE could also look at jobs for medical supply companies like drug reps or equipment reps but they aren't 8-5 either. Good luck!

[Vabsmith]

Thanks all for your replies. This gives me some idea about what to expect if she quits early.
About her academic probation- she forgot to take patient's consent before performing a procedure. She was under stress during those days due to personality differences between her senior and herself.
I know nothing about what locum tenes is and will try to find more. Any pointers would be great.

[spotty_dog]

I remembered your story so I checked...I saw that your wife was put on a 3-month probation at the beginning of October. So she should be able to put that behind her soon, right? Has anything come of that, or is the workplace still tense for her with those inter-personal relationships to deal with?

I'm glad quitting immediately isn't on the table any more...you have come so far! Hang in there.

[diggitydot]

Locum tenens = temp work

[Vabsmith]

Thanks for the encouragement- spotty-dog.
Well my wife took a leave of absence during Nov and Dec and has started going back from Jan. So she has two more months to go before she gets out of the probation time. So far she is doing okay in terms of workplace situation.
There is another side to this story that is our relationship. We fight about what our expectations are of each other- I want her to be more mature and independent while dealing with people and making small decisions. She wants me to be better organized and support her. We have been to couples counseling and I think that seems to help a little bit. I used to push her and nag her a lot and I am teaching myself not to do it. She has started to realize that she needs to be more independent if she has to complete the residency. For example- I would not help her write her notes, I would not drop or pick her up from the hospital etc..
We did our personality analysis with the counselor and found out that I am submissive + compulsive while she is passive aggressive + dependent.
The good thing is I have realized that we both have to work on our personalities and become more assertive.
I am motivated to be more assertive and make our relationship better but I am not sure if she is.
I think her residency training is a forced motivation for her to get on the assertive track.

[diggitydot]

Yeah, if she wants to survive residency, she'll have to toughen up and do shit for herself.

There is NO REASON for you to write any of her patient notes. Ever. It's a violation of federal patient privacy laws.

[Pollyanna]

I have heard of consulting firms hiring MDs who have 1 year of residency under their belts in their healthcare practices. It would be the big guys (McKinsey, Bain, etc) typically that would do that. That being said, it's not necessarily a better life - those companies require a LOT of weekly travel and sometimes internationally for months. It's hard to imagine that being away from your son 3-4 days/week would be better than residency.

Yes this. She should realize that the grass is not always greener and getting into consulting work will very likely make her sorry for dropping out of residency.

[ladymoreta]

I'm glad you are in couples counseling, and I hope she is able to stick out the residency. Welcome back!

[MDPhDWife]

Yeah, if she wants to survive residency, she'll have to toughen up and do shit for herself.

There is NO REASON for you to write any of her patient notes. Ever. It's a violation of federal patient privacy laws.

So much word.

[Vabsmith]

Yeah, if she wants to survive residency, she'll have to toughen up and do shit for herself.

There is NO REASON for you to write any of her patient notes. Ever. It's a violation of federal patient privacy laws.

I agree. I hope things change for better.