RETIRING CAN BE A TOUGH TRANSITION
During the many years a physician is in practice, he/she enjoys a solidly established identity that places the him/her in a position of prestige and authority. Physicians are still held in high regard and because of that are given respect and admiration other professions are not always afforded. Some express this prestige with humility, some with self confidence, while others become downright arrogant.
Then, after years of practice, along comes retirement, and things change for a lot of physicians. Yes, they are still recognized as a doctor, but they become identified as the person “who used to be my doctor.” No longer are they the person you trusted to care for your spouse and children, and who you let probe the private recesses of you body and mind. This transition can be quite a bump in the road for many who don’t prepare themselves psychologically and emotionally.
Physicians have several characteristics that enable them to transition smoothly into retirement. They/we are resilient, intelligent, purpose-driven, caring, love to learn, and hate to waste time. Their/our minds are rarely idle, and they feel insignificant if they’re doing nothing. Thus, they move into retirement with a purpose or a plan that turns retirement into a new phase of life rather than the end of a career. Rather than “retiring FROM a successful professional career,” they are “retiring INTO a new venture, or a new identity.”
medscape.com addresses the retirement issue with an article that profiles several physicians who took on completely different roles, and jobs in retirement. These doctors didn’t just shut their doors and pull the shades. They had career plans in mind that led to a second less intense, less trying, and less stressful job/profession that kept them busy but not overly so. The title of the article is “Always a Physician: Retirement’s Biggest Test Isn’t Money.”
These physicians “prepared their mindset for the loss of identity.” They “thought, acted, and felt like a physician,” but adjusted to the new role psychologically. One doctor did his research and actually in his retirement lectured on retirement and planning for it. He found the biggest hurdle to be “letting go” of his old role and working gradually in to the new role of lecturer and advisor. It required a completely altered mindset, but it was possible.
Another, rather than quitting outright, simply reduced his hours by being in the office fewer days and shorter hours. In his “free time” he stayed active with the American Medical Association as a board member. A retired OB-GYN was an officer-at-large for the AMA’s Governing Council, a medical consultant for hedge funds, and worked in a free medical clinic. It sounds like he kept himself very busy. A retired psychiatrist said her life was “almost identical to when I was working.” Now she volunteers for several organizations including one involved in medical school admissions. And a diagnostic radiologist holds volunteer teaching positions and does professional photography.
One thing is certain: physicians will always be physicians. Once the MD degree is awarded to you, those two letters will always remain after your name, and despite no longer practicing, it’s wrong to say you WERE a doctor. You still are and always will be. It is an admirable trait to smoothly transition from an active medical career to retirement and something altogether different. Most doctors adapt to change fairly well for the reasons listed in the third paragraph. There are, however, doctors who can’t. They are the ones who are lost, purposeless, and depressed. They should continue to work, but at a slower less stressful pace.
It’s a rare doctor who just up and quits and lives an idle life. It’s not in their DNA. Most have a plan, even if it’s just to play golf. Most have enough ambition and initiative to come up with something to do, even if it’s something as mundane as writing a blog. It keeps your mind active, it gives you a reason to get up every day, and you learn something in the process. Each has his/her own interests and need to integrate them into their retirement lifestyle.
References: Migala J. Always a Physician: Retirement’s Biggest Test Isn’t Money. medscape.com 2026 August 7.
