LITIGATION IN RESIDENCY TRAINING-PROGRAMS AND SUGGESTED DUE-PROCESS GUIDELINES FOR RESIDENTS IN TROUBLE

Litigation involving the dismissal of residents has increased in the p ast decades. A review of relevant court decisions and their implicatio ns for residency training programs is provided. To assure due process in such cases and to help programs deal fairly with situations involvi ng problem residents that may never come to frank dismissal, a set of guidelines to assist training programs in dealing with residents ''in trouble'' is presented. The guidelines were developed collaboratively at University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University o f Southern California (USC) and were reviewed and approved by the loca l hospital, university, and Veterans Affairs counsels to assure compli ance with institutional policies and procedures regulating due process for employees and students. The guidelines were also reviewed and app roved by an American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT) task force, but they were never published or widely distributed. Although modifications of these guidelines may be requir ed to meet local educational or institutional variations, or to meet v ariations in state law or precedent, these suggestions provide a usefu l template with which to develop adequate and effective due process pr ocedures.