When residents return to their residency programs, they also have fences to mend. Residents are usually good at articulating this. They want to make sure the person is really in recovery. If an addicted resident stole drugs or missed shifts, suspicion and resentment may linger for a while. Once they are in recovery, residents can move forward with their careers.
Requirements vary, but most states allow physicians in approved recovery programs to be licenced.
According to the American Board of Internal Medicine, residents can sit for the certifying exam when they are in a supervised recovery program and have externally documented sobriety for one year after a blemish on their license, revocation of hospital privileges or a negative proficiency evaluation resulting from substance abuse. The resident will also have to make up training time lost during treatment. Licensure applications will ask questions about substance abuse and functional impairment. If the resident was involved in criminal activity like writing bogus prescriptions, the state is likely to probate the license. It can happen anywhere, anytime.