What should go into a termination letter when a physician decides it’s time to move on? Many doctors assume this is their moment to air every grievance or list every misstep they’ve encountered—but that’s not what the letter is for. If your employer isn’t holding up their end of the contract, you do need to put that in writing—but professionally and concisely. Most agreements include a provision requiring written notice and often give the employer time to correct the issue.
In this guide, What Should be in a Physician Contract Termination Letter Contracts is explained with clear steps and tips.
So, if you’re asking yourself, “Is this really it?”—remember, this letter isn’t about venting. It’s about protecting yourself and staying within the terms of your contract. Keep it factual, focused, and respectful. Done right, you’ll maintain your professionalism and keep the door open for future opportunities. Keep reading to learn how to draft a solid exit letter—one that helps you leave on your terms, without burning bridges.
Medical Contract Termination — What Should be in a Physician Contract Termination Letter Contracts
So that would be the appropriate place to air the grievances. In the termination letter, there should only be two things. If the person terminates the agreement, it will likely be without-cause. That means nothing has happened that can give either party the ability to terminate the agreement immediately.
Nearly every physician contract has without-cause termination. And that means either party can terminate the agreement with a certain amount of notice to the other party. 60, 90 days is the industry standard. Sometimes it can be as low as 30 and as high as 180, but 60 or 90 is the average amount. The physician in the termination letter should cite the contract’s specific section.
I am giving you 90 days’ notice. My last date of employment should be on this date. And then, the physician must ensure that the termination letter follows what would be called a notices section. So, in any physician contract, there should be a section called either notice or notice.
That states how the physician can give adequate notice, meaning who and how you properly send some notice. And in that section, it will say these are the ways that you can give proper notice. It could be certified mail, hand delivery, email, or fax; most places do not allow emails or faxes. It’s either some registered certified letter through the post office. Almost all of them accept hand delivery in some way. Then, they will list where and to whom to send the termination letter.
Physician Employment Contract Letter to Terminate
If it’s a small physician-owned practice, then It will likely be the owner of the practice. And then, the address would be the address of the practice. Suppose it’s a large corporation, hospital, health network, or something. In that case, you’ll have to send a copy to the CEO or COO and to whoever their general counsel is.
I’ve had a couple of situations where I’ve had someone contact me after the fact that they failed to give proper notice. They either told their Boss or sent an email and the employer sat on it for 30 days. They didn’t say anything to the physician. And then, they returned to them 30 days later and said, Dr. Smith, you did not give us proper notice. Therefore you owe us another 60, 90 days after you give us adequate notice.
Physician Contract Review for Agreements
They did that because they were mad at the physician. They knew it would likely screw his next job opportunity and the start date. So, the physician must ensure that they’re following: one, what’s in the without-cause termination section, and two, what’s in the notices section of the contract.
To summarize, the termination letter is not a place to list all of the physician’s problems. You thank them for your time, tell them the termination section you rely on to terminate the contract, and send it to the address listed in the notices section. And that’s it. There’s absolutely no value in putting anything more than that.
Other Blogs of Interest
- How Do I Write a Notice of Termination of a Contract?
- Can You Write an Email to Terminate a Contract?
- What is Without Cause Termination in a Physician Contract?
What Should Be in a Termination Agreement Letter?
What needs to go in a termination letter from an employee? If employees decide they no longer want to work for the employer, what to put in that letter? First, we have a few things to discuss regarding terms and termination. The term is the length of the contract, and it should be specified.
It could be one year, two years, or three years. Then there’s usually a language that would say it would automatically renew for one year after that. More and more, there are evergreen contracts, which means there’s no initial term specified. It just says the contract goes on forever until terminated by either party.
What Form Should a Contract Termination Letter Take?
After that, you need to identify how to terminate the contract. There are a couple of ways to terminate an employment contract. If it’s a fixed term, two years, no possibility of renewal, it ends, and that’s it. You don’t even need to send a letter. Then, mutual agreement. It isn’t working out if both parties approach the other.
We don’t need to give notice. Let’s move forward. You don’t need a termination letter there. For-cause means someone is in breach of contract. The contract will usually require written notice saying, hey, you’re breaching the contract. And then there’ll be what’s called a cure period.
It means there’s a period for the employer to fix the breach or the employee. And if able to fix the breach within that period, it’s usually somewhere between 15 to 30 days. The contract reverts, and the party couldn’t terminate for-cause.
When drafting a termination letter, it’s essential to be direct while maintaining professionalism. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides useful examples of professional communication standards that can guide physicians in composing effective letters. See more in the NIH article on physician communication.
It’s also important to understand your legal rights and obligations when formally resigning. The U.S. Department of Labor outlines best practices around employment separations, including notice periods and compliance with contract terms. Visit the DOL page on termination guidelines for more insight.
Contract Termination Letter When a Breach Has Occurred
If there was a breach of contract, let’s do this from the employee’s perspective. They would first send a written letter stating you are in breach of contract. And then, if there’s a cure requirement, you have 15 days to fix this breach. If it fails to fix the breach, the employee’s option is to terminate immediately. In that scenario, the employee would send another letter stating he failed to fix the breach. I’m terminating the contract immediately. Thank you. And that’s it. Once again, in the initial letter, you need to state the reasons for the breach of contract. And then, in the second letter, if they failed to fix the breach. Just state, hey, you didn’t fix this. I’m moving forward.
You don’t need to put a list of grievances or all of the problems with the employer. Just say you breached; you didn’t fix it. And give the details about the breach and then move on. Now, that’s rare. The most common way to terminate a contract is without-cause. Almost any employment contract has a statement saying. Suppose either party wants to terminate the agreement at any time. In that case, they can do so with a certain amount of notice to the other party. 30 to 90 days, anywhere between, is standard for without-cause termination notice.
In that scenario, that’s where the termination letter would come into play. Let’s say the professional has a 60-day notice. They write the letter, they say per the agreement. I’m giving you 60 days’ notice. My last day of work will be X date. Thank you for the opportunity. I’m moving on. Once again, this letter is not the time for an airing of grievances or all the problems.
Keep Your Contract Termination Letter Short and Simple
Putting all of that down on paper is no benefit to the employee. It needs to be short and sweet. I’m exercising my right to terminate the agreement without-cause. I’m providing you with this amount of notice as required. My last date of work is this. Thank you for the opportunity. Good luck. That’s it. There are zero benefits to burning bridges to pointing out all the flaws in the employer. I know many employees feel like I just wanted to say my piece. It’s not a good idea for a couple of reasons. At that time, that job may stink because of management, mismanagement, the people you’re working with, the opportunity, whatever.
And if you sense some nuclear bomb letter and destroy the relationship, what if something happens down the road? What if the manager changes? What if they move into a new territory or someone buys them out? If you’ve nuked those relationships, that opportunity may be much better. Now, it’s a bad look, and you may have lost out on being able to go back. That’s one reason not to do it. And the second one is that there’s simply no benefit. If you’re moving on, move on. It feels good for the employee to get all that stuff out. But when it’s written, it’s forever. And so, they’re going to have that letter. They’ll probably show it to other employees or management if it’s terrible. And it just makes the employee look bad.
So, keep it short and sweet. Say, this is the contract section, I’m exercising this without-cause termination, last day of work is this. Thank you. Move on. That’s it.
Can You Break a Physician Contract? | Physician Contracts
So, can you break a physician’s contract? I daily deal with physicians with new employment agreements that need review. Or are on a current agreement that they need to analyze, usually due to wanting to terminate the agreement. Like the base level, one reasonably frequent question is whether you can break a physician’s contract. I think defining break is probably the essential part of that. So, can you break a physician’s contract? If breaking means breaching the contract, not following through on the terms of the contract? Sure, you can.
How to Terminate Physician Employment Agreement
But then you would open yourself up to liability. You could get sued, and litigation could begin. If there’s an arbitration clause, then it could go to arbitration. The employer could come after you for damages, recruitment fees for a new physician, and lost revenue from you, leaving extra admin fees if there’s no physician to support. Can you breach a contract? You can, but it’s certainly not a good idea. For this video, If we’re going to say, can I break a physician contract? I think the best way of handling that would be, can I terminate the contract? And indeed, yeah, you can. At least every physician employment contract will have a termination section. And in that section, it will dictate the terms of how the physician can terminate the agreement.
There are usually three ways: First, by mutual agreement. If you and the employer agree, the agreement may terminate. And maybe you can work out how long the physician will stay. That does not happen very often, to be honest. The second way to terminate a contract is with-cause. It goes both ways. For the most part, most of these employment contracts are highly slanted towards the employer, as far as what they can fire the physician for. And honestly, most contracts are completely silent on what the physician can do if the employer breaches the contract. Some normally think that the employer can terminate a physician immediately for-cause at their option. So, the physician loses the license, DEA registration, they’re running shareable, they’re on the OIG list, those types of like obvious, right?
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