Latest news with #patientSafety
Khaleej Times
15 hours ago
- Business
- Khaleej Times
Liv Hospital City Walk achieves landmark JCI 8th Edition accreditation
Liv Hospital City Walk, the first Middle East venture of one of Turkey's largest private healthcare networks, MLPCare, has marked a major milestone in its early journey by securing accreditation under the Joint Commission International's (JCI) newly released 8th Edition standards. The achievement places the Dubai-based hospital among the first in the region to be recognised under these elevated global criteria for patient safety, clinical governance, and health service continuity. Located in the heart of City Walk, Liv Hospital officially opened its doors in late 2024. It has since grown into a 24/7 facility staffed by over 60 physicians and nearly 200 healthcare professionals, providing multidisciplinary care across a range of medical specialties. Backed by over 25 years of medical expertise in Turkey and Europe, the hospital integrates academic rigor with advanced clinical services to serve a rapidly growing patient population in the UAE. The JCI 8th Edition standards, introduced to reflect modern healthcare challenges, place increased emphasis on digital health, sustainability, risk management, and integrated patient-centric care. Liv Hospital City Walk's accreditation under this framework underscores its commitment to continuous improvement and high standards in service delivery. 'Achieving accreditation under JCI's 8th Edition is more than recognition — it is a reflection of our deeply rooted culture of clinical quality and operational integrity,' said Dr Özgun Güngör, general surgery specialist and general manager of Liv Hospital City Walk. 'This milestone represents a collective commitment to excellence by our medical and administrative teams. As Liv Hospital's representative in the UAE, I am proud of the progress we've made in such a short time.' Liv Hospital City Walk is the latest development in MLPCare's growing international footprint, which spans over 38 hospitals across Turkey, the UK, Hungary, Kosovo, and Azerbaijan. The expansion into Dubai reflects the group's long-term vision of delivering high-quality, ethical, and technologically advanced healthcare to global communities. Developed in close academic collaboration with Istinye University, the hospital benefits from a robust academic ecosystem. Graduates from the university's faculties of medicine, dentistry, and nursing now contribute to the hospital's clinical depth, helping foster a practice that is grounded in evidence-based medicine and innovation. Liv Hospital City Walk offers advanced care in key medical areas such as interventional cardiology, neuro and spine surgery, general surgery, gastroenterology, dental services, and aesthetic medicine. The hospital's patient-centered model emphasises collaborative diagnosis and treatment planning, with safety and transparency at its core. In a short span, the facility has emerged as a regional center of excellence—attracting both local and international patients seeking high standards of personalised care and medical expertise. Part of the MLPCare international healthcare network, Liv Hospital City Walk is located in Dubai's City Walk district and delivers comprehensive, round-the-clock medical services. The hospital combines clinical excellence, modern infrastructure, and academic collaboration to set new standards in ethical and evidence-based healthcare across the region.
ABC News
a day ago
- Business
- ABC News
Health practitioner regulator gets tough on cosmetic injectable industry to protect patient safety
The Australian health practitioner regulator has introduced sweeping new guidelines for dentists and nurses performing non-surgical cosmetic injectable procedures, in a bid to better protect the public from players putting profits ahead of patient safety. The new rules released by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) today mandate further education and training before healthcare practitioners can perform cosmetic procedures like botox and filler injections. They also introduce minimum periods of experience required for nurses wanting to work with injectables. Nurses and dentists have been operating in the billion dollar cosmetic injectable industry for years without being required to undertake any formal additional education or training, before injecting patients with neurotoxins like botox. While many have become highly skilled at the practice, there's concern clearer rules are needed for those wanting to enter the industry to ensure they have enough training. Under the changes, advertisements will be required to include the details of the registered practitioner performing the procedures. Testimonials from social media influencers will be banned, along with targeted advertising of cosmetic procedures to minors. AHPRA CEO Justin Untersteiner said not all cosmetic injectors would be happy with the tighter rules and expected some would choose to leave the industry under the changes. "There will be others who have to modify their business models, and modify their practices to meet these guidelines," he said. Nurses and dentists have until September to prepare for the changes and ensure they are compliant with the new guidelines, which align with those already in place for doctors. "[After that] we will be identifying those that are doing the wrong thing and we will take action where we need to," he said. There's been a recent spate of cases of non-registered practitioners and clinics using off-brand or out-of-date dermal fillers and botox on patients leading to multiple hospitalisations after patients became ill with botulism. The NSW Health Care Complaints Commission (HCCC) warned patients of a Sydney cosmetic clinic to be tested for blood borne viruses after finding evidence that non-registered staff were injecting patients with dermal fillers and botox. The new federal guidelines are the latest salvo from state and federal regulators, who have been cracking down on cosmetic injectable providers, throwing some clinics into chaos as they scramble to ensure they comply with regulations. Many injectable businesses around the country are run by nurses who do the injecting, and often hold supplies of prescription fillers and anti-wrinkle injections like botox on site, and arrange telehealth consults for their patients so doctors can remotely prescribe the products. Recent guidance released in Queensland has made it clear the practice isn't legal unless the nurse is a Nurse Practitioner with prescribing rights and additional qualifications, or there's a doctor on site. State pharmaceutical and poisons regulators in both NSW and Queensland have also been conducting compliance checks on clinics, monitoring the possession and storage of schedule 4 medications like botox and fillers. AHPRA said it was concerned some telehealth practitioners weren't meeting their professional obligations, after media reports revealed patients were sometimes being issued botox scripts in less than a minute. The new guidance from AHPRA reinforced practitioners were responsible for understanding relevant state and federal drugs and poisons laws, and that those who prescribed cosmetic injectables were still responsible for the patients, regardless of whether or not they performed the procedure. The guidelines also mandate written information must be given to the patient, including the health practitioner who prescribed the cosmetic injectable, the practitioner who performed the procedure, details of the products used, what aftercare was needed, and who is responsible for coordinating the patient's care. From September, nurses will be required to complete a set period of 12 months of full-time practice before expanding their scope to include non-surgical cosmetic procedures. The guidelines state further education will be necessary for those practitioners wanting to work with cosmetic injectables. Those practitioners will need training in anatomy and physiology, education in assessing patients for suitability for the procedure, and both theoretical and hands-on training in the specific procedure being offered. While AHPRA CEO Justin Untersteiner said there had always been an obligation for practitioners to ensure they had appropriate skills, the new rules were "really making it crystal clear" about what it expected for those sorts of procedures. "That will likely require specific training around facial anatomy or physiology and I can tell you that is not a weekend course, this is proper training that will be required," Mr Untersteiner said. He said the regulator had heard multiple cases of permanent irreversible facial nerve damage as well as potentially life-threatening strokes from cosmetic injectables. "All registered health practitioners are responsible for ensuring they are sufficiently educated, trained and competent to safely undertake any cosmetic procedure they may perform." Do you have a story to share? Email Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia chair, Veronica Casey, welcomed the new guidelines and said the safety of the Australian public was paramount. "These types of procedures are undertaken every day and can have serious consequences if not done correctly," she said. The new AHPRA regulations outline that "registered health practitioners must also disclose any financial interests that could be perceived as influencing the advice they provide to people about cosmetic procedures". Some doctors and nurses working in cosmetic injectable clinics operate on commission-based models, meaning the more work done or greater the volume of product injected, the more money they stand to make from a consultation. But whether commission-based models need to be disclosed to patients will be subject to clinician's judgement and assessed by the regulator on a "case-by-case basis". It is illegal to advertise almost all prescription medications or related services including cosmetic injectables, with the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) responsible for regulation. Despite this, cosmetic clinics have been widely flouting advertising rules for years on social media and their own websites. The TGA said it had recently sent around 100 "targeted guidance letters" to providers in the cosmetic injectables industry, following identification of alleged non-compliance and that more will follow "in the coming weeks". The agency said in a statement that last financial year it submitted over 12,000 requests for removal to social media platforms over the alleged unlawful advertising of therapeutic goods, including "over 2,500 advertisements relating to cosmetic injectable products". The AHPRA guidelines now state any imagery used in advertising of higher-risk cosmetic procedures must be focused on information or education, citing concerns advertising was promoting the "trivialization and glamourisation" of cosmetic procedures to vulnerable patients, especially on social media. Examples of features more likely to be considered entertainment included imagery like music, dancing, singing, or comedic comments. It comes almost four years after a joint ABC and Sydney Morning Herald investigation revealed a shocking video of two doctors dancing while performing liposuction on an unconscious patient, which led to a crackdown on the cosmetic surgery industry. Under the new injectables guidelines there will be a total ban on targeted advertising towards patients under 18, as well as a mandatory seven-day cooling off period between the first consultation and any procedures for minors. Patients considering cosmetic injectables have been encouraged to check if a health practitioner is registered on the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency website.
BBC News
2 days ago
- General
- BBC News
Sheffield hospitals record four serious surgery 'avoidable errors'
Hospitals in Sheffield operated on the wrong part of a patient's body or on the wrong patient entirely four times over the last year, a report revealed. Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust referred to the errors as "never events" in its 2024/25 quality report, defined by NHS England as "serious incidents that are wholly preventable".In total, the number of patient safety incidents reported in 2024/25 was 30,453, the report said, with 152 (0.5%) of them resulting in serious injury or trust, which runs the Northern General, Royal Hallamshire, Weston Park, the Charles Clifford Dental Hospital and Jessop Wing Maternity Hospital, has been approached for comment. In response to the errors, the report said operating theatres had been altered "to be more conducive to completing vital safety checks".The process of viewing scan results and other checks had also been standardised, it added. The report, which did not share further details about the four errors, will be discussed on Thursday by Sheffield City Council's health scrutiny sub-committee, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said. Introducing the document, trust chief executive Kirsten Major wrote: "2024/25 has been extremely challenging for the NHS as a whole."[It] was dominated by complex operational pressures, continued industrial action, high demand for both emergency and planned healthcare and a challenging financial position."The chief executive added: "I am proud to say that our teams have gone above and beyond to ensure we continued to deliver improvements, all of which have impacted positively on the quality, convenience and timeliness of patient care." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
What grade did North Ala. hospitals receive from the Leapfrog Hospital Safety report?
NORTH ALABAMA (WHNT) — North Alabama hospitals received grades ranging from an A to two Fs. The Leapfrog Group is an independent national nonprofit focused on patient safety. On May 1, the group released its grade reports for hospitals across the nation for Spring 2025. The report card is like a school grade scale: A, B, C, D and F. These grades are 'assigned to all general hospitals in the United States based on their ability to protect patients from medical errors, accidents, injuries and infections,' the Leapfrog Group said. Hospitals receive a score in multiple categories within the following sections: Infections, Problems with Surgery, Safety Problems, Practices to Prevent Errors and Doctors, Nurses & Hospital Staff. Each section can have up to seven different categories that can be given a performance score of Worse than Average, Average and Better than Average, which plays into the overall hospital grade. Disclaimer: The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade scores hospitals on their overall performance in keeping patients safe from preventable harm and medical errors. The grades are derived from expert analysis of publicly available data using up to 31 evidence-based, national measures of hospital safety. In the list, 13 North Alabama hospitals were graded, receiving a grade anywhere from A to F. But, which hospital received what grade? Find out in the list below! Based on the data, Helen Keller Hospital is overall considered worse than average in the section titled 'Practices to Prevent Errors.' Specifically, handwashing, safe medication administration, and doctors' orders medications through the computer were in the red zone. That being said, the 'Safety Problems' section, most of the reports from the data suggest the hospital is better than average. For this section, there were seven categories that the hospital was rated on. Five of the seven were labeled as better than average, while one was labeled as average and one was labeled as below average. In previous years, Helen Keller Hospital received a relatively similar score, receiving a C for both Fall and Spring 2024, and a D for Fall 2023 and a C for Spring 2023. Based on data collected from Leapfrog, the Shoals Hospital received a C for its Spring 2025 grade. While this seems bad, the data collected from Leapfrog isn't complete. Out of 32 categories to grade the hospital on, only 14 of the categories are given a performance level. Seven of those 14 rated categories scored better than average, showing up the most in the 'Practices to Prevent Errors' section. The 18 other categories that were not given a performance level were labeled as 'not available.' Based on Leapfrog's website, ''Not Available' means that the hospital does not have data for this measure. This could be because the measure is related to a service the hospital does not provide. For example, a hospital that does not have an ICU would not be able to report data about ICUs. It could also be because the hospital had too few patients or cases to report data for a particular condition or procedure. A 'Not Available' result does not mean that the hospital withheld information from the public,' the group said. The hospital, based on previous reports, has been all over the grade scale. In 2022, the hospital received an F for the Spring but a B for the Fall. In 2023, Shoals Hospital received a C for the Spring but a D for the Fall. For 2024, the hospital received a C for the entire year. DeKalb Regional Medical Center was the ONLY North Alabama hospital to receive an A on its Spring 2025 report card. 14 of the categories were rated as better than average, with the best section being the 'Doctors, Nurses & Hospital Staff.' A point of concern seemed to stem from the 'Problems with Surgery' section, where only one of the seven categories was rated as better than average. The rest were considered average, with one category labeled as worse than average. Still, the hospital received a 0.00 score for this section. The best hospital's score was graded as 0.00, with the worst being 0.327 and the average being 0.014. In years past, DeKalb Regional Medical Center has been consistent in its scoring. In 2024, it received A's across the board for the year. In 2023, the hospital received a C for the Spring but an A for the Fall. The Russellville Hospital received a C based on the data collected from Leapfrog, mainly due to the 'Practices to Prevent Errors' section. In this section, four of the six categories are labeled as worse than average, with communication about discharge labeled as average and the staff work together to prevent errors category blank because the hospital declined to report this information to the public. The best section for the hospital could be considered as the 'Problems with Surgery' section, as four of the seven categories were given a performance score. Two of these categories received an average performance grade, while one received a better-than-average performance score and one received a worse-than-average performance score. The Russellville Hospital, based on data from years past, seems to stay consistent with either a B or a C grade. In 2024, the hospital received a B for the Spring but a C for the Fall, similarly to 2023, where the Spring grade was a C but the Fall grade was a B. Highlands Medical Center seemed to struggle in the 'Practices to Prevent Errors' section of the grading because four of the five categories given a performance score were considered worse than average. The hospital received a score of 15 for this section, simply because the Leapfrog data said the hospital declined to report its performance on this measure, so a score was assigned to reflect the lack of information available. The highest hospital score for this section was a 100, with the average hospital receiving an 80.23 score. The hospital performed its best in the 'Problems with Surgery' category, receiving an average performance score from four of the five scored categories. This grade is an improvement for the hospital, according to Leapfrog data. This is the first time the hospital has received a C since Spring 2022. After that, the hospital has continuously received a D on its report card until now. The North Alabama Medical Center was one of two North Alabama hospitals that received this grade. For the sections that Leapfrog graded on, the 'Infections' section was given the best performance score. Six of the six categories in this section received a better-than-average performance score. The hospital received a 0.00 score, with the highest hospital's score being a 0.00. The average hospital's score was 0.719, and the hospital with the worst score in this section received a 2.850. The section where this hospital could work on more is 'Safety Problems.' Seven categories were given a performance score. Two were scored as worse than average and four were given an average performance score. In recent years, the hospital received a B for 2024, and Cs for both 2023 and 2022. The area for improvement for the Athens-Limestone Hospital is 'Safety Problems.' Of the seven categories, four were given an average performance score and two were given a worse-than-average score. The hospital received an overall 1.00 score for this section. The hospital with the best score received a 0.53, the worst score was a 3.10 and the average hospital received a 1.00 score. The Athens-Limestone Hospital scored the best in the 'Infections' section. Its overall score was 0.00, with the best score for a hospital being 0.00. The hospital with the worst score received a 2.850, and the average hospital score was 0.719. For 2024, the hospital received a D for the Spring and a C for the Fall. For 2023 as a whole, it received a C. Crestwood Medical Center, while receiving worse-than-average performance scores in the 'Doctors, Nurses & Hospital Staff' section, the hospital received better overall scores for the section. Five of the six categories in this section were in the red and one category was rated as average. However, the hospital's score was a 101.54 overall score, with the best hospital's score being 120.00. The hospital with the worst score received a 9.23 and the average hospital received a 117.49 score. The hospital had the best overall performance score in the 'Problems with Surgery' section. Out of the seven categories, two were considered better than average, four were considered average and one was worse than average. The grade of a C is a step up from the most recent grade for 2024, being a D for Fall and a C for Spring. Huntsville Hospital was one of the two lowest-ranking hospitals in North Alabama. The hospital's worst-scoring section was 'Practices to Prevent Errors.' Its overall score was 15, according to Leapfrog. This is because the hospital reportedly declined to report its performance on this section, so Leapfrog assigned the hospital a score to reflect the lack of information available. Five of the six categories in this section were scored. Three of the five categories were scored worse than average while the other two were scored as average. The hospital had the best section in 'Problems with Surgery.' While the performance scores appear to be low, the overall score provided by Leapfrog shows the hospital scored the same as the best hospital's score: 0.00. The average hospital score was 0.014 and the worst hospital scored 0.327. This grade is one step down from 2024, with a grade of D. In both 2023 and 2022, Huntsville Hospital receied a C grade. Madison Hospital was the other hospital in North Alabama to receive the lowest grade. The hospital received almost identical performance and overall scores to Huntsville Hospital. The hospital's worst-scoring section was 'Practices to Prevent Errors.' Its overall score was 15, according to Leapfrog. The average score for this section was 80.23, with the highest score being 100. Madison Hospital's best-scoring section was also 'Problems with Surgery.' While the performance scores appear to be low, the overall score provided by Leapfrog shows the hospital scored the same as the best hospital's score: 0.00. In 2024, the hospital also received a D for the year, which was a small step down from 2023. This year, the hospital received a C grade for the Spring and a D grade for the Fall. Marshall Medical Center North was the only North Alabama hospital to receive a D grade. Based on available Leapfrog data, the hospital received the worst performance scores for the 'Infections' section. Its overall score was 2.452. The best score was 0.00, the worst was 2.850 and the average score was 0.719. The hospital's best scoring section was 'Problems with Surgery.' Three of the seven sections are scored as better than average, two are average and two are scored as worse than average. This grade is consistent with previous Leapfrog data. For 2024, the Marshall Medical Center North received a D for the Spring and a C for the Fall. However, for both 2023 and 2022, the hospital received a D grade. The Decatur-Morgan Hospital-Decatur Campus had four of the five sections scoring in the nationwide best hospital's score: 'Infections,' 0.00; 'Problems with Surgery,' 0.00; 'Practices to Prevent Errors,' 100; 'Doctors, Nurses & Hospital Staff,' 120. The worst section, scored for the hospital, was 'Safety Problems.' In this section, the hospital received an overall score of 1.17. The best hospital scored a 0.53, with the worst hospital scoring a 3.10. This grade is consistent with previous years, considering 2024's yearly score was a B. In 2023, the hospital scored a C for the Spring, and the grade for the Fall was a B. You can find out all the hospitals in Alabama or nationwide that were given a grade on the Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade website here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Medscape
5 days ago
- Business
- Medscape
Terminated! The Risky Clause Hidden in Physician Contracts
Ashley Saucier, MD Ashley Saucier, MD, hadn't even finished charting after her shift in March 2023, when she had to rush to a meeting called by her supervisor. When she got there, a team of executives handed her a piece of paper telling her she had been 'terminated without cause, effective immediately.' 'In that moment in the conference room, your life flashes before your eyes,' said the Louisiana-based pediatric emergency room physician. 'You have all of these feelings all at once: I just spent 10 years of my life giving everything to this job, not spending time with my family, having to be on blood pressure and anxiety medicine, not sleeping and always having to have my phone on.' As the hospital's pediatric emergency medical director, Saucier said she had received positive feedback in peer reviews and had overseen the expansion of her department, the launch of a children's hospital, and its Level II pediatric trauma certification. But she had also been vocal about patient-safety issues, including concerns she and her staff had surrounding a new business partnership. 'That definitely built up over time, the perception that I was too vocal,' she said. She assumes this contributed to the company's decision to fire her. Saucier, 47 years, said she vaguely remembered a clause in the contract she'd signed a decade earlier that had a clause about 'termination without cause.' 'You sign the big contract in the beginning when you start, but after that you only sign a one-page document going forward,' she said. 'So you're not seeing that clause over and over again.' A 'termination without cause' clause in a contract allows either the employer or the employee to end their contract at any time, without having to give a reason for the decision. Without a reason for a firing, doctors are often left to speculate about what's behind it, while also faced with the prospect of finding a new employer, maintaining financial solvency, and dealing with a personal sense of failure. Understanding the Risk It's unclear how often 'termination without cause' affects doctors. Saucier said that after sharing her story publicly, she heard anecdotal stories from physicians all over the country who had had similar experiences. Still, Jackie Crain, an associate contract review specialist at Contract Diagnostics said that she has not seen employers making frequent use of the provision, although it's common in contracts. Scott Weavil Scott Weavil, an attorney with Weavil Law, a San Francisco law firm that specializes in physician contract review, said that more often physicians recognize that they face a potentially imminent termination and resign before it occurs. 'Where we do see more risk is in smaller private practices, where the economics are tighter and personality conflicts are at the fore vs larger practices,' he said. 'This also applies to both practices owned by financial investors and others that are re-evaluating their workforce, such as by replacing physicians with mid-level providers.' Weavil added that many hospitals are looking to increase or retain their physician workforces, although some are replacing primary care physicians with advanced practice providers. The Union Factor Cris Carillo, DO, 33 years, a family medicine physician in California, said he also had a vague recollection of such a clause in his contract. 'I knew that I was an at-will employee,' he said. 'But it never really entered my mind that I could be terminated and how much that could upend your life.' Like Saucier, Carillo had been outspoken about patient safety concerns. At the time of his termination, he was also serving as a lead organizer in a unionizing drive, urging fellow doctors to join the Union of American Physicians and Dentists (UAPD). Carillo had had near-perfect performance reviews prior to his firing, which happened abruptly. He was called into a meeting with human resources and clinic managers, who handed him a termination letter and immediately escorted him out of the building. Tim Jenkins Tim Jenkins, a senior representative with the UAPD, said that terminations without cause are more common when physicians are in the midst of unionizing. Jenkins said Carillo's employer thought that they could 'cut the head of the snake off' and 'teach everyone a lesson about what happens when you speak up.' In Carillo's case, his coworkers went on a brief strike to protest his termination. He was reinstated after about 90 days as a result of a settlement of an unfair practice charge filed by the union. Despite the experience, Carillo wanted to return to his job because he believes in the clinic's mission and feels connected to the community. Jenkins said that the union has filed charges against three different employers in the last few years where there have been terminations during the process of starting a union. 'Our goals include protecting physicians from unfair terminations as well as negotiating a collective bargaining agreement that is clear and comprehensive,' Jenkins said. 'All of our contracts are reviewed and voted on before adoption, so it is a transparent and democratic process.' According to the Union Membership and Coverage Database, fewer than 8% of physicians belong to a union. So if your contract says that you can be terminated without cause, you have little recourse unless you suspect you've been fired as retaliation or for discriminatory purposes. Still, there are things that you can do to minimize your risk: Before You Sign: Have a legal expert look at your contract. Crain likens a physician signing a contract without legal review to a lay person trying to interpret their own diagnostic tests. 'Yes, I can Google it and get hints and ranges, but is that as good as talking to the doctor about it?' she asked. In addition to making sure you understand the contract, a legal expert can also help you negotiate for terms that are fair to both parties. Ideally, 'termination without cause' clauses should: Be mutual — meaning that you can also leave for any reason Include a notice period — 90 days is typical Not require noncompete adherence or incentive repayment upon termination Include severance pay and/or extended benefits On the Job: Don't ignore red he was not expecting to be fired, Carillo said that in retrospect, there were signs. 'In the months leading up to [it], I saw the trajectory where I was feeling more like I was under a microscope,' he said. Many employers use the strategy of 'quiet firing,' meaning they try to pressure an employee into quitting before resorting to termination. If you're suddenly excluded from meetings, given less responsibility, or being denied raises, your boss may be trying to send you a message that your current position is not a good fit. 'Be aware of the prevailing sentiment,' Weavil said. 'If things are not going well, start pursuing back-up options. Consider doing the same thing in the event of potential upheaval, like a corporate change-of-control transaction, or a reconsideration of the staffing model.' Make sure you keep your network up to date. Keeping in touch with other physicians in your fields has many benefits, including making it easier to quickly land on your feet at a new role, if necessary. After her termination, Saucier called a friend who was director of a pediatric emergency department in a nearby city to tell her she was no longer employed. Within a week, she'd met with staff in her friend's department and had a letter of intent for a new position a few weeks after that. It's also important to build up a rainy-day fund in a conservative, liquid place, such as a high-yield savings account. If It Happens to You Often, there are forces beyond your control that culminate in your firing. As difficult as it is, your best approach is to move on. Saucier said, now that 2 years have passed, she views the day she was fired as the 'best/worst day of my life.' 'For a long time, probably 2 or 3 years, prior to my termination I really wanted to leave,' she said. 'I didn't feel that it was going in a direction that intersected with how I live my life and practice medicine, but I had spent years building up this team and would never have left them. And so the decision was made for me.' It can be hard not to take a termination personally, especially if — like many — you're the type of physician who places a lot of your self-worth in your professional success. But try not to dwell. Weavil added that while legal protections exist for good-faith disclosures, physicians terminated without cause likely have less to worry about in terms of their future career prospects than those fired for a competency issue. Many employers are cautious about disclosure and may provide only minimal information as a reference, unless compelled by law or accreditation requirements. 'Realize that physicians switch jobs all the time in the current landscape, so future employers aren't likely to view the separation negatively,' Weavil said.
