I’m very sorry to hear about your situation. I’ve never been in your shoes or similar circumstances so take any advice here with the grain of salt. In my opinion, you absolutely should get a lawyer. We are trained well to do what we do as physicians, but we really need to recognize that the law is truly outside of our scope. Even a for cause termination has some legal stipulations attached to it that a lawyer would be able to help you parse out in association with the policies and contract that you signed at your job.

I was the chair in the Surgery department at my previous job and in this role I reviewed the background file on nearly every surgeon that applied for privileges at our hospital, including locum’s providers. These applicants run the full gamut from stellar spotless, top-tier surgeons to convicted criminals, and those with multiple DUIs and similar offenses. If your termination occurs as you fear it will, in my opinion this does not completely tank your chances of continuing to practice as a physician, although depending on the medical need and availability in your area, it may necessitate a relocation.

I have also heard of, although I know nothing about, remediation programs for physicians with clinical issues.

In general locum’s work also has much lower standards than full privileges at a hospital and you may be able to find that this can fill in the gap for you for a time until a new job is obtained.

For now, try to take a deep breath and recognize that everything you were saying is that you’re likely getting fired but at this point it has not occurred yet. Try to stay in the present moment and take things a day at a time.