Changing residency programs

[bony00]

My husband is an intern and has not been 100% satisfied with his current residency program. He received a call from the program director of another program he interviewed at and really liked a lot. They have a 2nd year spot available and he is going to take it. His taking this position will enable me to take pursue my academic goals. There are very few options for me where my husband is currently located. The purpose for my posting is when and how does he tell his current program director of his intentions to leave at the end of the year, without making the last couple months uncomfortable. He is well liked and I am hoping that using me as excuse will make it ok.
Any thoughts?
K

Hi Bony00,

I think that's great that your husband found a residency program that will work for both of you. I would suggest giving notice to his residency director asap. When DH was going through residency, two of his fellow residents left to pursue other fields. One girl didn't give notice until her last day which meant that they had to scramble to find a replacement. DH and the other residents all had to work extra hours to cover her spot until a replacement could be found....and that took a couple of months. Let's just say that did not earn her any Brownie points from her fellow residents. Since she was still in the medical field, she frequently ran into her former residents and that often made for a very awkward situation. The other resident who left gave about 6 months notice which was ample time to find a qualified replacement. The transition to a new resident was smooth...and everyone was very thankful for that!

I think it is fine for your husband to tell the director that you are not happy with where you are currently and you need to leave to purue your own career. I really would tell him sooner than later. When DH's program was looking for replacements, his director would always call the interviewee's residency director to do a reference check. It would be terrible for the information to leak before your DH gave notice.

Good luck! The new opportunity sounds very exciting for you!

Having dealt with this.... ....

I would suggest that your DH find out when their contracts for next year are due. Maybe in the February or March time frame?
My DH notified his program the day before contracts for the 2nd year were due (around mid-February). All things considered, it went reasonably well. That still gave them enough time to fill his position for the following year. He really could not have done it any sooner because he didn't have his new position secured until that point

If he has already signed an agreement with the new program, he needs to let the old program know right away. Word gets out about that sort of stuff. You will have to consider the program and how likely they will be able to fill the spot or have been able to in the past.

Another resident in his program left for as well but remained in the same specialty. She cited her husband's career and a job offer he received as the reason for needing to move. That worked fairly well, too.

We went through this as well. DW went to a larger program after her intern year. Lets just say that, each program will react a little differently when told that they are losing a current resident.
When Dw told the director, which was early, he sent her home! He wasn't very professional with her from that point on either. So, just be prepared!

So, just be prepared!

Ditto that! An initial negative reaction might soften over time.

That sucks, Matt! Talk about a totally unprofessional reaction from the director!