# Facing dismissal from residency If your program has recommended dismissal, told you your contract will not be renewed, or offered you the chance to resign instead, the next few days matter more than the next few months. Most residents reach us days before a deadline. [Start a free, confidential intake](https://www.residenthelp.org/intake). If you need a lawyer, we connect you with independent counsel within 48 hours, at a reduced flat fee with no hourly billing. ## What usually happens The sequence repeats across programs: a concern, a committee meeting, a recommendation, and then either a dismissal letter or an offer to resign, often with a deadline in hours or days. See [the patterns we see](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/patterns-in-residency-dismissals). ## The clocks that are probably already running - **A resign-or-dismiss offer:** often 24 to 72 hours. Ask for the documents and an extension in writing. See [the first 48 hours](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/resign-or-be-dismissed-residency-first-48-hours). - **A hearing or appeal request:** commonly 10 to 30 days from the written notice, and some written appeals within five business days. See [your appeal deadline is days away](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/residency-appeal-deadline-days-away). - **Pay and health coverage:** an appeal usually does not pause a termination. - **An outside charge:** the EEOC's 180- or 300-day limit cannot be extended. See [deadlines you cannot miss](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/deadlines-after-residency-dismissal). - **A J-1 visa, for international medical graduates:** Intealth, formerly ECFMG, sponsors J-1 physicians, and a resignation in lieu of termination can end sponsorship as a termination can. See [Intealth (ECFMG) and residency dismissal](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/intealth-ecfmg-residency-dismissal-img). ## The due process you are owed The ACGME requires every sponsoring institution to have a written due process policy for suspension, non-renewal, non-promotion, and dismissal. That policy sets the hearing, the panel, and the deadlines. Courts defer to genuine academic judgment, but not to a decision that skipped the institution's own steps. See [how to appeal a residency dismissal](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/how-to-appeal-residency-dismissal), [can a resident be fired without a hearing](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/can-a-resident-be-fired-without-a-hearing), and [the cases that matter](https://www.residenthelp.org/cases). ## What to do first 1. Do not resign, sign, or agree to anything in the meeting. 2. Ask in writing for the documents behind the decision, the policy being applied, and more time. 3. Download your evaluations, milestones, logs, and every policy while you still have access. 4. Find your appeal deadline and file a short request before it. 5. Read your contract for every exit clause, and your board's rules on continuity. ## How Resident Help helps - **Free intake and case review.** We read what you have received, find the deadlines, and tell you plainly what the next step is. - **Independent counsel within 48 hours** when you need a lawyer, at a reduced flat fee with no hourly billing. - **No referral or fee arrangement.** Resident Help receives nothing from counsel, and pays nothing for referrals. [Start a confidential intake](https://www.residenthelp.org/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. ## Common questions ### What does Resident Help cost? Intake and case review are free. If you need a lawyer, independent counsel works for a reduced flat fee, with no hourly billing, paid to counsel. Resident Help has no referral or fee arrangement with any lawyer and receives nothing. ### How fast can I get help if my deadline is days away? Send an intake with your deadline. If your situation needs a lawyer, we connect you with independent counsel within 48 hours. Most residents reach us days before a deadline. ### Is Resident Help a law firm? No. Resident Help is a South Carolina nonprofit in formation that specializes in resident dismissals. It does not give legal advice or represent residents. Submitting an intake does not create an attorney-client relationship. ### I am an international medical graduate on a J-1. What changes? Intealth, formerly ECFMG, sponsors J-1 physicians. A termination, or a resignation in lieu of termination, can end eligibility for future sponsorship, and Intealth does not intervene in disputes with your program. Get immigration counsel the day you receive notice and do not resign until counsel has reviewed it. ### Do I have a right to a hearing before I am dismissed? The ACGME requires every sponsoring institution to have a due process policy for suspension, non-renewal, non-promotion, and dismissal. That policy sets the hearing or appeal you are owed and its deadline. ## Keep reading - [Your residency appeal deadline is days away: what to do in the next 48 hours](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/residency-appeal-deadline-days-away): Most residents find out how short their appeal window is after part of it has already passed. If yours closes in days, here is what to do first, in order, so the right is preserved before anything else. - [How to appeal a residency dismissal, step by step](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/how-to-appeal-residency-dismissal): Appealing a dismissal from residency runs on your institution's own due process policy. The steps repeat across programs: preserve the deadline, get the record, build the case on the program's own documents, and plan for the outcome before the decision. - [Resign or be dismissed: what to do in the first 48 hours](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/resign-or-be-dismissed-residency-first-48-hours): Programs often present resignation and dismissal as the only two choices, with a deadline measured in hours. The deadline is usually negotiable, the choices are usually not the only ones, and what you do before it expires shapes everything that follows. - [Your residency program wants you to resign. Here is what a realistic outcome can look like.](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/what-you-can-negotiate-when-your-program-wants-you-to-resign): Most residents in this position are not choosing between winning and losing. They are choosing between a separation that follows them and one that does not. These are the terms that can be asked for, and the ones that rarely move the outcome. - [Intealth (ECFMG) and residency dismissal: a guide for IMGs](https://www.residenthelp.org/blog/intealth-ecfmg-residency-dismissal-img): Every international medical graduate trains with Intealth, formerly known as ECFMG, in the background. For an IMG on an Intealth-sponsored J-1, a dismissal or a resignation in lieu of dismissal can end sponsorship on a short clock. What Intealth does, what it does not do, and what to do first. - [Know your rights as a resident](https://www.residenthelp.org/rights): What your program owes you under ACGME requirements, what federal law protects, and the first 72 hours. - [Questions residents ask, answered](https://www.residenthelp.org/faq): Short answers to every question our guides cover, from resignation offers and appeal deadlines to accommodations and visas. --- Source: https://www.residenthelp.org/dismissal Publisher: Resident Help (https://www.residenthelp.org) This website provides general information and is not legal advice. Using this site or submitting a form does not create an attorney client relationship.