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  • Home
  • Non-clinical jobs for doctors
  • How to Find a Non-Clinical Job
  • Transition Toolkit
  • Medical career strategies
  • Physician Success Stories
  • Job Openings
  • Medical Writing and Strategy Agencies
  • Medical Review Companies
  • Clinical Research Training
  • Resources For Physicians With Disability
  • Careers for Physicians Without Residency
  • Licensing and Programs for International Physicians
  • Tips from your doctor
  • Medical Student Stories
  Non Clinical Doctors

Transition Toolkit

The instruction Manual For Doctors Considering Career Change

Read this before you drop out of medical residency

10/19/2018

14 Comments

 
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A physician needs to complete at least one year of training in a certified residency program and must pass all three parts of the USMLE to become qualified to apply for a medical license. Residency entails a 3-7 year minimum commitment of training to attain clinical skills and board eligibility. Residency is highly sought after, and there are hundreds of candidates who do not match each year.

I want to drop out
But what if, after finishing medical school, matching, and starting your training, you decide that you hate residency and want to leave before finishing? What if you decide that you want to pursue another avenue? You will most likely receive a number of different messages from various people.
I have received this question over a hundred times, and I have heard over one hundred different stories of why residents want to drop out, including:
  • Bullying
  • Burnout
  • Anxiety
  • Disenchantment
  • A sense of missing out on your true calling
  • Concern about the future of medicine
  • Landed another good opportunity

The answer of whether or not you should leave residency depends on how you visualize your future.

Ask yourself the following questions.
  • Do you want to see yourself practicing medicine the same way that senior level physicians in your specialty practice medicine?
  • Do you want to see yourself as a leader in your specialty?
  • Do you want to see yourself spending hours working in your specialty, but not as a leader?
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, then you need to stay in your residency to become qualified.
Your discouragement is understandable, but dropping out will not help you get where you want to go.
  • If bullying, intimidation or harassment are driving you out of your program, seek the assistance of a mentor (preferably a senior faculty in your specialty) who can advocate for you. There is a strong chance that the person or people who are behaving unprofessionally with you are also behaving unprofessionally with others, and your complaint is likely to be one of several complaints.

If you answered no to all of the above questions, then move on to the following questions.
  • Do you want to see yourself practicing medicine the same way attendings in another specialty practice medicine?
  • Have you discovered that another specialty that you were not previously exposed to is appealing now that you have had some exposure?

If you answered yes to that question, then you need to develop good relationships with your program directors and transfer into a different residency.
You deserve to practice the specialty you want to- and even if you waste a few years of training to get the specialty you want- you will find the extra training well worth it.

If you answered no to all of the questions so far, then move on to the next question.
  • Would you like to be a leader in the health care field?
  • Do you want to work in a non-clinical job in medicine?
If you would like to be a leader in health care, the honest truth is that you will have a very hard time if you do not complete residency. It is true that leaders in health care can be nurses, PhDs, pharm Ds and MBAs. But the vast majority of non-MD professionals did not leave their own training and are certified and usually experienced in their own fields.
I am sure you don't want to hear this, but, completing your residency actually puts you on par with non-MDs who are qualified in their own areas.
If you have still answered no to every question so far, then move on to the next question.
  • Would you prefer to work as a businessperson, a lawyer, an investor, a journalist, a professional consultant, an entrepreneur or in any other field with little to no emphasis on medicine?

If you answered yes, then leaving residency is probably in your best interest. Residency, board eligibility and board certification will not help you attain these types of positions any more than just having a graduate degree. In fact, this is the only instance in which you will waste time professionally by remaining in your residency. But, be aware that your medical school and your residency will not be helpful in getting you the job you are looking for, and that you will have to start at the bottom and work your way up.

For more information on how to find a non-clinical job,  see Careers Beyond Clinical Medicine. Find out more about your specific career options without residency here.
14 Comments
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thank you for your comment. I am so glad you find it useful. No newsletter yet, but probably soon!

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Zaid
4/5/2017 04:26:12 pm

I am dr Zaid I have degree in general medicine but I have not license what option I have for resdenciy and job thank u

Reply
Heidi Moawad MD
4/14/2017 05:04:58 am

Hi Dr. Zaid, Consider the options below.

http://www.nonclinicaldoctors.com/careers-for-physicians-without-residency.html

Reply
Lucie Buissereth
6/12/2017 01:32:46 am

Great info. Thank you. How best to send a direct message?

Heidi Moawad
6/17/2017 03:27:19 pm

Thank you- I'm glad you like the info. You can send a message here:
http://www.nonclinicaldoctors.com/contact-me.html

Reply
Wassim
11/15/2017 11:18:48 am

Hi
I have a degree in medicine and another one in physiotherapy. I dropped out of residency about six years ago, and I have been away from medical field for all these years. What options do I have? Can I pursue my postgraduate medical study in the US?What should I do?Please guide me.
Thanks for your assistance.

Reply
Heidi Moawad
11/20/2017 06:21:48 am

Hi Wassim,

It depends on what you have been doing for the past 6 years since you dropped out of residency. If you have been working or studying, then your experience can help you in a non-clinical field. If you want to pursue US residency, there are open spots for residency listed here: http://www.nonclinicaldoctors.com/careers-for-physicians-without-residency.html

Reply
CreativeWurks link
8/20/2018 06:34:34 am

I've watched my wife go through residency six years ago.. she is an OB now, but with the current climate of corporate healthcare, many physicians are opting to leave within five years or less.. maybe deciding to stop earlier in this career with save time and money.. it's just getting worse. Healthcare is a dying profession.. so sad.

Reply
Heidi Moawad MD
8/25/2018 07:00:07 am

Dear Creativewurks,
Hopefully healthcare isn't dying- we will all need medical care at sometime or another- so it better be good care!

As an OB, she has many options- including finding a better practice setting.

Reply
Anonymous
12/12/2018 06:05:50 pm

When faculty forces you out of a residency, despite your good faith efforts and expressed emphatic goal to pursue your current clinical specialty, there doesn't seem to be much understanding or help for residents in this situation. To suggest to pursue activities geared at staying relevant within medicine to strengthen an application is a financial nightmare, and no guarantee to regain residency training. There is no good advice except give up your career or keep trying to push a rock uphill with the hopes someone takes you into another residency.

Reply
Heidi Moawad
1/2/2019 11:23:57 am

Your situation sounds very stressful. Consider contacting one of the coaches listed under Career Coaches and Mentors near the bottom of the following page:
http://www.nonclinicaldoctors.com/useful-links.html

They can provide you with a free consultation. Please note that nonclinicaldoctors.com does not have any financial agreement with the coaches listed.

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    Contents

    • There is more than one way to be a doctor
    • Additional income sources for doctors
    • The path to a non-clinical physician job
    • Teaching jobs for physicians
    • Managing your finances as an independent contractor
    • Is a non-clinical job right for you?
    • Becoming qualified for a non-clinical job
    • Other options for healthcare providers
    • Regulations know-how
    • Job search mistakes to avoid
    • Creating a website
    • Physician career continuum
    • Feeling trapped in medicine
    • Read this before you drop out if residency
    • Should you take the USMLE if you don't want patient care?
    • A health writing career
    • Health article guidelines
    • How to self publish a book
    • Burning bridges
    • I don't want to be pre-med anymore
    • Writing a book​
    • What are your priorities?
    • Solutions to medical career frustration
    • Quiz-do you want to leave medicine?
    • Solutions for physician mothers
    • Top 10 signs that you need to find a non-clinical job
    • I Know a doctor who seems miserable
    • Career management for the modern physician
    • 7 tips for marketing your book