Dr. Eugene Gu, a Tennessee physician best known for spending his days posting anti-Trump rhetoric on Twitter, was let go from his job as a general surgery resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Gu told the Hill that he was basically “fired” from his five-year residency after just two-and-a-half years in the program.
“If you don’t complete all five years of your general surgery residency, you don’t get credit for partial completion,” he said. “It’s just like not doing residency at all.”
Gu claims he was let go because of his daily barrage of anti-Trump tweets and the notoriety that brought. “They don’t want that out there in the media,” he said. “It’s troublesome to them, and so they punished me for it.”
Vanderbilt: Gu Was Unprofessional, Work Was Substandard
In response, Vanderbilt University Medical Center said Gu was let go because of repeated instances of unprofessionalism and poor work performance, which was compiled using feedback from colleagues, attending physicians, performance evaluations, and a multiple-choice exam.
“Dr. Gu’s repeated assertions that he was disciplined, or that his residency program contract was not renewed because of his political or social views are simply untrue,” John Howser, a rep for the hospital told the Hill .
One patient refused to be treated by Gu after he tweeted a photo of himself kneeling, claiming he wanted to “fight white supremacy.”
Gu is a prolific tweeter, and many have wondered how a full-time physician has the time to post so often on social media and still do his job.
I’m an Asian-American doctor and today I #TakeTheKnee to fight white supremacy. pic.twitter.com/69QLjrTShY
— Eugene Gu, MD (@eugenegu) September 24, 2017
Eugene Gu is one of seven individuals who sued President Trump for blocking him on Twitter.
In May 2018, a federal judge in New York held that President Trump cannot block users from following his Twitter account because the platform is a “public forum” protected by the First Amendment, according to the court ruling .
Twitter reaction to Gu losing his job was mixed, with some saying instead of being known as the doctor who trashes Trump all day, it would have been helpful “if he were a doctor known for being a doctor.”
Others agreed, with some speculating that perhaps Gu got so caught up being a social media celebrity that he neglected to do his job properly.
As an intelligent human, if you think the UN is useful fair arbiter of human rights…you are an imbecile.
And I don’t use that word lightly. https://t.co/dqAMe6GwBH
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) June 16, 2018
Gu said he’s considering taking legal action against Vanderbilt Medical Center and wants to find a job at a hospital that’s more “supportive” of his political activism.
It’s unclear how strong Gu’s case would be, or if there’s a hospital that wants to hire a doctor who’s more interested in political activism than treating patients.
