I’m a physician who teaches resident doctors and I have one resident who wants to pursue a subspecialty. He is a fantastic resident but due to the competitive nature of the specialty didn’t match a spot the first time around. A spot came up for a new program where I had connections and I reached out and he was given an interview then it was rescinded which was highly irregular. I reached out to people I know and the spot was going to be his but was rescinded due to something one of my coworkers said when discussing him with the program director. I’ve seen her paper letter of recommendation and it is glowing. The only reason I can think of for why she would sabotage him is because they have set up a very unethical job where they pay him like a resident, but require him to bill like an attending (a doc that can practice independently) and in his free time hit 9 first author publications in 2 years (which is near impossible with the resources where we’re at and was purposefully chosen so he wouldn’t succeed (this was overheard in a conversation I wasn’t supposed to be privy to) with a promise that he would have a spot where we are afterward. I am really struggling with the disgust I feel with how this was handled and really sad that he had the spot and then it was rescinded and have been struggling to make this neutral. This is obviously not isolated and I have been successful at thoughtwork when it comes to my own struggles with the job but am struggling now that it impacts one of the learners that I care about. Help!!