Being a physician today can be exceedingly demanding and stressful. And so too can be the process of completing one’s medical school training and navigating internship and specialty residency, and subspecialty fellowship if one chooses that course.

Of course there are exceedingly high standards of professionalism that are expected of med students and PGYs (post graduate years after getting your MD). And professional decorum and ensuring patient safety and quality of care are of utmost importance. So too is being part of a healthcare team. And of course these are all things that one has to learn. In benchmark healthcare centers, a significant amount of attention is devoted to helping develop those skill and allowing leeway as one learns the art and science and business of healthcare.

However, the fact of the matter is that somewhere between 20-50% of med students and residents are going to experience anxiety, depression or burnout. A significant number may use alcohol or other substances excessively or inappropriately, some even using illicit substances (which, needless to say, is exceedingly risky to one’s career). Some others may respond suboptimally to prolonged stress and manifest behaviors that are problematic, like inappropriate anger or use of vulgar language in a patient care setting, or disrespect of an attending. But here's the thing. We’re all human, and med school and residency are like a boot camp few people have ever seen. We know that.

These missteps shouldn’t be career killers. This is, after all, a time of learning, adapting to a most stressful career choice and getting used to the rigors of the field (unrealistic at times though they are.)

Unfortunately, situations arise where one’s situational mental illness (such as depression or anxiety), one’s social life escape valve, or one’s ragged attitude run into an unforgiving system. And the current structures for medical educational and healthcare training institutions may, generally for appropriate cautionary reasons but sometimes not, insist that one be referred to a state medical board-affiliated physician health program (PHP) for some sort of assessment.

And this is where things can become very dangerously problematic, not to mention costly. They can in fact cause a prolonged interruption in one’s course of training and can even permanently derail one’s career.

As you will have seen from the remainder of CPR’s site, we’re all about helping physicians protect their rights from undue harm. We’ve studied the operational disciplinary and “impairment assessment and treatment” climate for over ten years. We know how harsh and non-forgiving it can be. And we’ve seen significant harms done leaving the physician and physician-in-training no recourse to justice.

We believe some of these approaches are deeply unfair. Some we believe are worse than unfair; they are predatory, abusive and corrupt.

And newer understanding as a result of our study of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other federal laws leads us to believe that a significant number of these practices may be in serious violation of federal law

As we ourselves are physicians, we know well what goes into making a physician. We know the rigors of both the academic and clinical environments. We’re intimately familiar with the demanding healthcare environment. And at CPR, we have studied the dangerously broken administrative judicial system.

We came into existence specifically to make sure that physicians were able to get the help they needed in a respectful and fully confidential manner, and to get guidance and support should they find themselves in administrative proceedings in which their rights to fairness were thwarted and which had enormous career consequences.

CPR advocates for physicians to have access to confidential, respectful and independent professional assessment and, where indicated, treatment. We want to see physicians not only advance but thrive in their careers. We want to work toward an environment of collaboration around optimal patient care. And we want to ensure that there is a fair and transparent administrative and judicial process which adheres to all requirements of federal and state law, meets the needs of all stakeholders, and abides by all ethical guidelines pertaining to professionalism, not only of clinicians but also of the administrative entities which assess and regulate them.

Before CPR emerged, PGY residents and med students had utterly no guidance or support and no advocacy. There was no one to turn to. We are determined that we will be that resource. We will be the singular Voice that fights for the rights of medical students and physicians-in-training so that they can blossom into the caring clinicians and compassionate physicians they envisioned themselves to be and that we so urgently need.

We’re confident you agree with our vision and hope you will help us accomplish our mission.