[THREAD] I’m going to be sharing stories about the resident doctors whose lives have been impacted by the @Royal_College of Physicians & Surgeons of Canada’s decision to postpone its Spring exams. #PGY5Stories 1/

#examfail #battlefieldpromotion #meded

I spoke to a resident today who is in her 5th year of training as a surgical specialist. She is the chief resident in her program. She is on call 1 out of every 3 weekends, sometimes more often depending on vacation coverage. /2

Throughout her residency she has been involved in both clinical and education research, splitting her research time between pharmaco-anatomical topics and professionalism. Highly-skilled, well-respected, and well-liked, she already had a job lined up starting this summer /3

To prepare for her @Royal_College exam, she has spent every spare minute of her time studying. Last summer, she absconded from visiting her hometown so that she could focus on studying. She missed family birthdays and the baptism of her first nephew. /4

All of her energy and drive has been focused toward the exam. With the arrival of COVID, she learned on March 13 that the @Royal_College exam she had been preparing for all year would be postponed from late-April until sometime in May. /5

One week later, she learned the exam would be postponed until the Fall. /5

Now, she sits in limbo. Her program is slotted to end in July. But her job is up in the air given the current crisis and the reallocation of health care resources. /6

Her program can't yet commit to funding her past July 1 and the @Royal_College doesn't seem to have an option for a digital exam or post-hoc graduation certificate pending her exam. It's a shame there isn't a better option 7/7

#PGY5Stories #examfail #battlefieldpromotion #meded

Photo by Luis Melendez on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/@lcma1028