Sometimes all that’s left to do is just laugh. Not only have to deal with the humiliation of being fired but now it seems my claim may be denied. Crazy, just crazy. Just really ticked off. Again my wife doesn’t care because all her calculations were not based on any money from unemployment…she’s cool with it. Me? Well…I’m ticked off with all of it. I find out this week that they already interviewed and offered my former position to one of my bosses admin friends during his fellowship. Seems this was in the works because she sold her house and had just moved into town the week I was let go. Now I know how long it takes to advertise, interview, and offer someone a position…it does not take a week much less a month.
I am definitely very glad in a way. For one, I was doing some reading on malignant residency programs and the similarities between those and my job were scary. I was like “I work with THAT guy…and THAT guy…THAT guy too…HER too!!!” The biggest learning experience is that “speaking your mind” is for retards. No offense to anyone however I won’t fall for that garbage anymore. I like that you speak your mind…I love that you have a M.Div. and just tell it like it is… those actually translate into I like that you speak your mind because I can use your own words against you because context doesn’t matter in retelling the story…I love that you have an M.Div. because now I don’t have to convince people your judgmental I just remind them when you say something that makes sense about how “self-righteous ministers are” and that seed will grow and do the work for me…exxxsssssellent
The other…never trust someone when they say “Tell me what you think…”…especially if they are a physician but specifically not in certain specialties. They are not looking for the truth they want others to agree with them or just shut the heck up. I assumed they wanted another viewpoint…DUMB, DUMBER, DUMBEST…I have a very high IQ in stupid.
So lesson learned and plenty more to learn as I reflect. Gotta say that I was headed down the same path in medicine. Now? Well now I’m hoping OPM docs will give me words of wisdom. It seems that being opinionated is definitely not the way to go. So how do all you folk with “strong personalities” succeed? Any words of wisdom for med school? Residency? Do you just wait until you’re a Board Certified attending to say anything? Never? 
crooz -
I’ll give you my personal opinion - you not only have to have a backbone, you have to utilize it in speaking your mind when the patient is at stake. But consider the doc you are dealing with. In my peds rotation this week, was sent in to do history and physical on a girl with a high fever and a cough. My preceptor said “it’s important to really check their lung sounds well because she might have pneumonia”. I listened and heard VERY FINE but definately there crackles in both bases. Had her cough, still heard them, more on the rt side. Went and got doctor - told him what I’d heard. He went in and listened, then had me listen over the right side and asked if the crackles I’d heard had cleared up. I listened, compared it the the L side, and told him that they had cleared there (NO crackles) but I still heard them on the L (was listening about 1 1/2 inches below the lowest point he had listened to on the left). He listened where I pointed and then proceeded to tell the parents that she might have the beginnings of pneumonia and treated her accordingly. TOld me after we left the room that “that was a good job finding those crackles. I had missed them”.
Obviously, this doc is one of the good ones. Also importantly, if I hadn’t stood up for my different finding (in a tactful way), the girl would not have been treated for her pneumonia.
When can you speak your mind - when you think you have a piece of information needed by the doc. My neice is an ER nurse. They had a patient extubate themselves (by biting the tube and popping the balloon) in MRI. The patient had propofol (a paralytic) in their system but it was inadequate to keep them from biting the tube and breathing against the ventilator. 3 residents came to the page, and then argued over the patient as to who needed to handle it. The nurses urged SOMEONE to do something. They could not reintubate the patient so the nurses called the ER doctor up. He was reluctant to give the med usually used to relax and paralyze the throat to aid intubation, and they tried 5 times to intubate without it. The nurse suggest “why don’t you give succ (succinylcholine) - I’ve got it drawn up”. The doctor said “ok, give 40 mg”. She replied - “that wouldn’t get my cat to stay still - here’s 150 mg in the syringe!”. He used it, and got the man intubated. was she rude - yeah, a bit. Was the situation dire enough to warrent it --yeah, a bit!
I wouldn’t be SURE you know better. But if you ARE sure, got to be loud enough to be heard. Try to save their face, if at all possible.
Now if the opinion is your frank evaluation of the residency program…well, maybe diplomacy is the better course 
Kate
Boy, is that the worst! I am sorry to hear it. It’s OK. In n years you’ll be a doctor, and whoever replaced you will likely be doing some version of the same darn thing.
- croooz Said:
Interesting it took a post about speaking one's mind to bring me out of my self-imposed lurker status for the past few years, which occurred due to me speaking my mind, LOL!!!
Having learned how to handle these situation the hard way, I think your answer to this question depends on whether or not the person you're talking to is insecure/inept. If they are, say something like you're not quite sure because your intelligence is only going to make them feel more insecure/inept. Otherwise, say what you have to say as humbly as possible.
“The better part of valour, is discretion…” - Falstaff ( Henry IV, Part I) Shakespeare.
I do not do well at “office politics” and tend to open my mouth at the wrong time. I had to learn, over time to be quiet, keep my thoughts to myself, practice discretion, and learn what is better left unsaid. Being able to do that has allowed me great freedom in my practice…I am virtually left alone, and not micromanaged at all, as I tend to “fly under the radar”. There are many times that my profession is very OPENLY discredited and devalued. I have learned to not fight, but go quietly about my business and let the quality of my work speak for itself. That I have a waiting list of over 60 patients - all asking to see me based on my word of mouth reputation, speaks volumes more than any rant I ever would have made. If it is a patient safety issue, I will go to the mat for it…but generally, having earned the respect of my colleagues, they intervene and back me up so I do not need to rant too long or too loud. A wise piece of advice I learned in State service was “It is better to apologize, than it is to ask permission…” Every great once in a while I venture forth on my own skills and judgement, usually with good results and knowing it is probably against “policy”. The results override the breach in policy, and I may be mildly chastised, but my apology is usually accepted. 
How are they justifying denying your claim? Unless you were let go for cause (and often even then), you should be able to collect unemployment.
Check w/ a lawyer if you think you’re getting screwed over (seriously…and I am NOT litigious.)
Having been fired, and having been on unemployment TWICE for that particular situation, you have to be able to PROVE that the reason for losing the job was NOT your fault.
In the first situation I was able to prove that I had a surgery for a tumor ( they fired me for poor time and attendance) - and that the tumor was not my fault. In the second situation, they claimed poor time and attendance, when the real reason was that I had reported one of my employees for child abuse at a time that the agency was under investigation for abusive practices. I was able to produce my time and attendance records and prove that their argument did not hold water. In both instances I ended up receiving full payment of my unemployment claim. It gets real dicey if they claim “insubordination” - because it really comes down to “he said - she said” in those situations. If they have heavily documented, then you are not in a good place. I do not know the exact circumstances, but they usually look for hard copy as proof from either side.
- VickiV Said:
The problem I've had with saying nothing particularly when I worked in Big Pharma, was that when I did, folks assumed I was inept and yes, it was used to terminate me from a position.
Hey Croooz,
I don’t know if this is the case everywhere, but my city has a nonprofit called the Unemployment Legal Office (or something) that represents individuals whose unemployment claims have been unfairly denied. I did intake for them for a bit in college, and then when everything hit the fan in 2008/2009 I also ended up sending a few acquaintances their direction. In some cases, all it takes is a letter from someone with a JD to ‘clear up a misunderstanding’. If you think you’re entitled to unemployment, it’s worth looking for a similar organization in your neck of the woods.
Best of luck!
Thanks everyone. we’ll see this week.
UPDATE
My claim was approved. Turns out after reading the termination letter they did not have cause. They listed two incidents as “proof.” The first occurred when my boss was actually only my coworker. The second was actually our SOP for doing business. So essentially they had no cause and like VickiV said the company had to prove I was in the wrong since I was terminated instead of me quitting. If I had quit I would have to prove the company was the problem and that would have been impossible.
So I’m receiving my big fat unemployment check…yeah right. Feels good though. I have that behind me and now am just biting at the bits to start my prereqs Jan. 28th. My wife keeps reminding me that in 1yr-7months-2weeks-1 day-21 hours-15 min-11 seconds I will be in a formal postbacc!!! But who’s counting…
Congrats! Glad to hear this update. It does feel good to be shown right, doesn’t it?
Crooz, great news.
Happy to hear everything is working out well. Good luck.