Can a resident be fired without a hearing?

The short answer is that your institution's own policy usually decides, and accredited institutions are required to have one.

If you were dismissed without a hearing, or told you are not entitled to one, tell us what you received: start a confidential intake.

What the ACGME requires

The ACGME Institutional Requirements obligate every sponsoring institution to maintain a policy that provides residents with due process for suspension, non-renewal, non-promotion, and dismissal, regardless of when in the appointment period the action is taken. The ACGME sets the floor. The procedures, deadlines, and hearing format live in your institution's written policy. See the policy you need to find today.

The "academic dismissal" argument

Programs sometimes say an academic dismissal needs no hearing. That argument comes from the Supreme Court's decision in Horowitz, where a medical student dismissed for clinical deficiencies was held not to need a formal hearing, because she had been fully informed of the problem and the decision was careful and deliberate.

The protection depends on those facts. No notice, no deliberation, no Horowitz. And a later case, Ewing, held that an academic decision stands unless it substantially departs from accepted academic norms. A program that skipped steps in its own written process is describing that departure. See the cases every resident should know.

Your policy may promise more

Many institutional policies promise more than the constitutional minimum: a hearing panel, the right to present evidence, an advisor, and a written decision. If your policy promises a hearing, the program is bound by its own promise, whatever the Constitution requires.

Public or private

At a public institution, constitutional due process arguments may be available. At a private institution, the analysis usually runs through contract law: did the institution follow its own written policies. In both, the institution's compliance with its own procedures is where most disputes are decided. See what each word means.

What to do

• Ask in writing which policy applies and what process it gives you.
• File the hearing or appeal request before the deadline, even if the program says none is required. See how to appeal a residency dismissal.
• Write down every notice you were given about the deficiency, and when.

If this is happening to you

Facing a deadline from your program? Tell us what you have received and when your deadline is. We will review your situation confidentially and point you to the right next step: start a confidential intake.

Resident Help is not a law firm, and submitting an intake does not create an attorney-client relationship. If your situation needs a lawyer, we will tell you and help you find one.