By Dr. Margaret Curtis, WCI ColumnistIn the fall of 2023, I started a new job in general pediatrics at a teaching hospital. I really enjoy the academic environment, and I have managed to avoid being put on any committees, so it’s going well. My inner paranoid thinks that I will be fired any day now because I was late doing my annual learning modules, but so far, I remain employed.
(I also have a recurring anxiety dream where I have committed “Ozark”-style crimes and need to leave town, but I can’t because I have unfinished office notes. Psychiatrists, please weigh in.)
I hope to be at this job for a while, but I know that someday—hopefully years from now—I will pack up my office and go home for the last time.
Someday, you will also leave your job. Hopefully, you will leave on good terms with a card and a cake and maybe even a “Happy Retirement” banner in the break room. You may leave a job you enjoyed for a move, for your family, or just for a better offer. You might—and I hope this doesn’t happen to you—have to leave when a job becomes intolerable or you are terminated. Or you might just reach your personal finish line and retire.
However you go, there are a few things you should take with you. I’m not talking about office supplies. I’m talking about legal and professional documents that will make your next license application or credentialing process much easier. Even if you are retiring, you should keep a file of these documents in case of a lawsuit down the road, which I also hope doesn’t happen to you.
Here are some things to think about taking when you leave your job.
Your Personnel File
Larger employers keep a personnel file on you, and they update it regularly. Your file may contain: your application and credentialing, salary, positions and promotions, any disciplinary actions, and any awards. You are allowed to get a copy (how often varies state by state, but it's easy to find online). Your personnel file should not include any information such as medical records, marital status, or other demographics.
You should keep a copy of your file as a record of all your achievements and responsibilities and to check for any unpleasant surprises. I left my last job after our entire department imploded: our department chair was fired, there was acrimony and drama, and there is still a lawsuit underway (not involving me, thankfully). When I checked my personnel file on my lawyer’s advice, I saw, “Admin is working with Dr. Curtis on remaining professional in meetings.” This was in reference to a meeting where I asked why our chair was being fired and nothing more. I’m not the first person to find a negative comment snuck into their file by a dysfunctional administration or HR, and I won’t be the last. There is more to this story, and if you want to hear it, come find me at WCICON26. But either way, this is why I don’t trust HR, and neither should you.
If there was disciplinary action against you, check the record for accuracy. If there are incorrect statements, you can challenge them. Your employer doesn’t have to amend the file, but you could have a letter of rebuttal included—this also varies by state law, and you may need to get a lawyer if things are really ugly.
More information here:
Help, I’m a Doctor in a Cubicle: Auntie Marge Explains It All
Should I Feel Bad About Taking Time Off?
Face Sheet or Certificate of Professional Liability Policy
This is proof that you were covered for medical malpractice during this job and have either an “occurrence” policy or a tail to cover you for claims brought against you after you leave. This is important in case you are eventually sued and because your next employer will want to be sure it can't possibly be on the hook for any liability you incurred prior. Ask your med staff office, and they will direct you to your insurance carrier, HR, or whoever keeps this.
If you don’t have a tail policy (which covers you for suits filed after you leave a job) or an “occurrence” policy (which covers you no matter when the suit is filed), you should look into purchasing a tail policy for yourself. They aren’t cheap—you are looking at anywhere from 150%-300% of your annual insurance premium—but they would cover you for millions in claims if it comes to that. You could negotiate that your next employer purchase a tail policy for you, although that’s a long shot. While you are thinking about protecting against the worst-case scenario, make sure you have a good asset protection plan in place.
CME and Credentials
Hopefully, you have your own record of any training you did at work (such as ACLS, PALS, etc.), but often your med staff office keeps its own record as well. Get a copy in case you missed anything. It might save you from having to take BLS yet again. Med staff office should have this.
Patient and Procedure Log
It's much easier to get these while you are in the system than after you have left. These should not contain any patient-identifying information. Generally, new employers and medical boards just need a list of CPT codes billed over the past two years. You could possibly generate this list from your EMR, or you may have to ask your IT department to create one for you. (Actually, it’s kind of interesting to see your work laid out in this format. From March 2021-March 2023, I billed for 14,258 separate CPT codes, including 2,740 Level 3 office visits, 16 PPD placements, and 42 ferritins.)
Vaccine Record and Titers
If you had titers drawn to make sure you are immune to something like (and this is a totally random example) measles, keep a record of these and any vaccines you received. You can show these to future employers, and you may want them for your own peace of mind. This should be at employee health in a confidential file, not at HR.
More information here:
Our 5-Year Update After Starting a Medical Practice
Names and Contact Info of References
Ask those colleagues you trust before you leave if you can list them as references, and then keep their contact info in your “work” file. It will save you those, “Hey, I’m listing you as a reference; what’s your phone number” emails a few years later.
In addition to these documents, I keep:
- Copies of current medical licenses, my DEA license, any board “in good standing “ letters
- Medical school and residency diplomas
- Board scores (although these are also stored online at FCVS)
- Copies of a certified birth certificate and marriage license
I also have a copy of a letter of recommendation from my summer job in college.
All of this is true.
There you have it, my list of items to take with you from any job. These should make your life easier, no matter what your next step is. Office supplies will too, but you didn’t hear it from me.
What else should you think about taking from work when you leave? What's the most important? What's the least important?
This is a thoughtful list, thanks. I have already retired and hopefully have left any job for the last time.
One thing i did which took some work is making a copy of all “administrative” eMails that I was sent over the years, which included addenda to contracts and numerous letters which included data about our retirement plans, etc.
Thankfully I was able to copy them all in bulk and not individually.
I have had occasion to look for a few which were helpful in moving forward. They would have been very helpful if I were to practice again elsewhere.
that is very helpful, thank you!
You’re welcome! What i forgot to say in the note was that our organization had a dedicated company-wide eMail system and as soon as I was “off-boarded” I lost access to that eMail system.
As another thought, One might want to make a screenshot of their patient rating scale on any dedicated website for the corporation. This is not for vanity, but I carried a five-star rating with over 500 patient comments. The day after I left, this was gone. I personally won’t need it, but it might be helpful for those who want their prospective employers to be aware of.
that’s another great tip! you should be able to carry your five-star rating with you.
And an item I forgot to add (which now no one will see because it’s buried in the comments): be sure to print out any emails between you and admin that referring to any contentious job stuff. Don’t print anything with any patient information that would violate HIPAA, but anything about your employment status, anything inappropriate, or any failures to respond to your own emails (“I wrote to you on July 10 about understaffing in our department and you have not responded”). You will surely not have access to these emails after you leave.
Thank you for your great thoughts. Years ago when I left the military, the discharge papers carried over erroneous info from the template, identifying me as a single guy with previous marriage and divorce… LOL. As above, I save all old emails in a .pst file for archive rather than on the server itself.
Separately, I wonder if there is an easy way to export all my EPIC smart phrases.
I don’t know how but your helpdesk would. There is (finally) a way to do this other than one-by-one, and copy./paste one-by-one.
great ideas, thank you.
And carrying over Epic stuff would be great. If a helpdesk or your local superuser can’t help, I bet Epic could. There should be a way to migrate some parts of your user profile without access to old patient charts.
I’d suggest adding a note about LinkedIn—updating your profile and reconnecting with professional contacts before access is cut off.
thanks for your comment – why would LinkedIn contacts be cut off? I have a LinkedIn profile but never use it so not familiar.
More Margaret Curtis content plz! This woman is the GOAT
We like her too!
Oh my goodness! Thank you Anika!
I think she is pretty great too.
But I married her first, so back off Anika🥹
Very helpful post and comments. I made a note to refer to this as my retirement date draws closer.
I have begun collecting HR related emails in a specific category as I receive them for reference and intend to print them out to take with me. Mainly retirement related stuff, no sensitive information.
great idea. I printed out any email that had anything to do with: benefits, trainings, end dates. I took a copy of the employee handbook with me so I could refer to it in case any questions were raised later (“did you give your notice to the right person?” “yes, right here” ).
that, plus the phone number(s) of the people you might need to call – like if you can’t access your online retirement accounts portal, or you have questions about ongoing benefits. It’s awkward to call the hospital switchboard and ask for the medical staff office.
Excellent article Margaret ! I would like to emphasize… everything in your office (except artwork and photos) and everything on your work computer is the employer’s property. You may be escorted out after lunch with no warning. You will not be entitled to access anything. Be proactive. Deal with material that might be embarrassing, harmful, or helpful to you. This includes records about cases or interactions that could be used against you. Even notes and schedules could help you reconstruct events when it is time to defend yourself against a complaint you did not expect.