I am asked with some regularity whether I am aiming to retire in the near term. Years ago, I never received such inquiries. Why now? Might it be because my coiffure and goatee – although finely-manicured – has long entered the gray area? Could it be because many other even younger physicians have given up their stethoscopes for lives of leisure? (Hopefully, my inquiring patients are not suspecting me of professional performance lapses!) Interestingly, a nurse in my office recently approached me and asked me sotto voce that she heard I was retiring.
“Interesting,” I remarked. Since I was unaware of this retirement news, I asked her when would be my last day at work. I have no idea where this erroneous rumor originated from. I requested that my nurse-friend contact her flawed intel source and set him or her straight.
Retirement might seem tempting to me as I have so many other
interests. Indeed, reading and studying,
two longstanding personal pleasures, could be extended once I enter the
post-career phase. And I also hope that
during this time that I will give back in some way, an effort that I should
have found time for during earlier years despite the pace and pressures of a
career and a a large family.
So, here are the two reasons I head off to work each day
rather than lounge at home adding more newspapers to my current event regimen
and pursuing additional avocations.
I enjoy what I do.
I can still do the job.
I work a full week.
In fact, during the week that will follow my penning this post, I am
scheduled to perform 67 endoscopic procedures – which will be a career-high, assuming they all show up! Indeed, that week of endoscopic
immersion might spawn a blog post or two.
While I carry a full schedule, this is the easiest GI gig I’ve
had since I started work in 1990. As
some readers may recall, I no longer do any hospital work and I have graduated
from the night/weekend/holiday arena. I
am now charged to manage a Mon-Fri outpatient practice. Not only is my current posting less arduous
and stressful, but it is also more enjoyable.
I am totally focused on the patient before me without distractions and
interruptions from ICU nurses and ER physicians calling with urgent medical developments. And understandably, during prior days, there were always ill
hospital patients on my mind.
I thought back then that I was able to compartmentalize and
set all of these distractions aside. Now
that I am free from them, I realize that I was less focused in the office than I
thought I was. Indeed, having only office
patients to care for now has been liberating.
Tomorrow is Monday which may land me in the Endoscopy Hall of Fame. Let the games begin!
Addendum: While 67 patients were scheduled, only 58 kept their appointments - still a career high!
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about aging is that we are going to face loss, of all kinds. I have been fortunate to have had work life balance by combining a part time private practice and 2 small medical directorships in the field of Psychiatry. My husband is an ER doctor and has been burned out because of the grind. We are in our early 60's, and we have seen our children leave the nest, lost our parents, lost some patients, lost several pets and lost a few friends. I worry about losing my faculties, my physical health and my cognitive abilities. I think that continuing to practice part time is the answer. It allows us to have continued meaning and purpose, keeps our minds sharp while allowing us to have continued balance. I schedule my practice T, Wed, Th with medical directorship duties monday afternoon and friday am. That leaves me Friday noon to Monday noon to do whatever I need to. My husband has now followed suit, picking and choosing urgent care shifts on the same days so that we can take long weekend trips. As long as I continue to be competent and capable, I want to continue doing what I love!
DeleteBeautiful
DeleteI am often asked the same question (mainly by me, on the way to some practice-related destination), and I arrive at some semblance of the same answer; I enjoy it as much as I ever have, and probably more, and I am better at it than I have ever been. Doesn't seem like the right time to stop! Research, teaching, and mentoring have really sweetened things for me, as well, which keeps the wind in my sails!
ReplyDeleteI retired 5 mos ago after 40 yrs of family practice (32 yrs at 6 days a week, 8 yrs of 5 days a week ) I will be 70 in january, Had a side job of Medical Director for 15 of those yrs, raised 2 girls (one who passed away from Cystic Fibrosis at age 12). Up to the day I retired I loved my patients and staff. Why would I retire then? I was not at all burned out. I simply wanted the freedom of no schedule, to travel with my wife as we please , especially to see my daughter and her husband in Alaska whenever we want. I help people with projects and will be working for a landscaping company (at $15.00 / hour - wow !!) -obviously for the physical work, not the money. I can come and go as I please and am so far blessed with excellent health. Now I feel it is time for ME and MY Wife and so far I am very happy and feel very blessed all the way around.. My advice for what it is worth is don’t wait too long - we all at some point need some “ME” time
DeleteCircumstances change. I retired from clinical practice 18 months ago after 42 years, but still provide IME’s and medical opinions for insurance carriers, lawyers, and hospital boards.. This takes about 1 day per week, including the necessary study to stay current and write authoritatively. I have lunches and coffee with old friends, grandkids and exercise nearly every day to some degree , usually with other retirees.. so I’m doing a lot of the things I planned on when I decided to retire.. While I have been healthy and active , my family members have had all sorts of illnesses, surgeries, and set backs in this time period, so I drive to appointments, physical therapy, do a lot of grocery shopping, laundry, dishes, gardening etc filling in as needed.. my point is that while I could have continued to work, my circumstances changed dramatically after retirement.. like Jimmy Stewart in It’s A Wonderful Life, the travel is on hold.. My advice is “Don’t wait too long”, as not only is your clock ticking, so is your spouse and family.
DeleteI enjoy doing surgery locums. Been at it for 37 years. Surgery is my thing, and I’ll do it until the system gets so bad that I no longer have the desire to deal with the politics and credentialing.
ReplyDeleteStill gives me satisfaction to save lives.
Trauma and Acute Care General Surgery.
Awesome
DeleteThat’s awesome!
DeleteEvery time a doctor is removed from practice, payers save $10 million a year. Doctors and patients through the market should decide when a doctor retires. Anyone else who tries to make that decision is an agent of the payers and an enemy of the patients. There is a serious shortage already. Doctor know 4 times as much as alternative providers. Those promoting their use and their family members should be forced to see one next time they have crushing left sided chest pain.
ReplyDelete100% correct about patients being forced to see nonphysician "wanna bes" to save money for the insurance industry to provide massive bonuses for their executives. Love to see some of them or their families get an erroneous diagnosis/treatment for a serious medical problem that should only be managed by a physician and not an imposter. I’ve certainly seen such disasters for several patients. NPs and PAs have a critical role but can not compare to physicians with 4 years college, 4 years medical school, internship, residency and possible fellowship for complex situations.
DeleteAgree!!
DeleteIt's sick to say you would love to see anyone get sick from an erroneous diagnosis or treatment. It was physicians who requested PA's and NPs when they could make money having them work for them. I remember assisting with surgeries and then being replaced with the same people you wish do poorly. Simply put there are not enough physicians any longer to see all the patients that need to be seen. I can also remember when DOs were not wanted in the medical communities. Take a deep breath and be thankful someone can see patient's, sometimes without waiting 3-6 months to be seen.
DeleteI understand your point, the key thing is that DO's ARE physicians, 4 yrs college, 4 yr med school, intership, residency etc. I wish no ill will towards any patient. PA's and NP's have 12 -24 months after college. They do not have the education or training to be looked at as an equal to a physician. They are expected to provide in the same capacity which is not an appropriate expectation. We have a shortage and patients need to be seen. Ins companies are the problem. We now are in a system of healthbusiness, not healthcare, there in lies the problem.
DeleteWe shouldn’t be thankful that there are people seeing patients sooner that have poor levels of education which result in poor patient outcomes. Having inadequately trained medical staff that get to see patients sooner is not a win. Objective studies have consistently demonstrated they drive up healthcare costs. They overorder radiological studies, labs, and consults. Many of those who are inadequately trained add a greater burden to the system than they alleviate. The only solution is to increase the number of physicians by making medical school more affordable and more available to those who qualify… As well as increasing the number of available residency slots.
DeleteOne of the problems is that they do not know what they do not know. APPs are great as support staff (lac repair, FB removal, monitor labs, recheck on patients/labs and to deal with minor issues (that they still misdiagnose sometimes with terrible outcomes). Now, doctors are certainly not perfect bit the misdiagnosis rate is certainly less). Lawyers and hospitals love APPs for sure.
DeleteLet’s be very honest with ourselves! Just anyone tell me here that who has brought this NP and PAs in the clinical medicine practice? Who teach them and allow to rotate while they are in the school?
DeleteI believe we are dishonest with our own fraternity where I see young medical students and their parents spend so much money and time to train them to be a MD just to face the real competition when they finish residency in the primary care like Internal Medicine Family Practice and Pediatrics right? Plus I hate to put all MD at loose word “PCP” or Primary Practitioner, not even call us a MD or Physician.
Have you seen how much penetration has been in every medicine field by this “Physician Extenders” who now also mistakenly by patients called as MD
I am a diagnostic radiologist just turned 75. I retired from hospital and full time practice a few years ago, but still work from home reading all sorts of outpatient studies a few hours most days. I still enjoy it, although an hour or two at a time is typical for me. I can still do my job, I think as well as ever. I like earning a little spending money and helping people. I probably will go on another year or two and then reassess things.
ReplyDeletePerfect
DeleteI was forced to retire in 2020, only because my younger partners wanted my full time GYN patient practice to pay for salaried new nurse midwives [who were on a fixed salary] as the pandemic decreased their non delivery "business ". I had stoped OB care 6 years earlier and truly continued to practice for the enjoyment of seeing and caring for patients [not the money]. The younger full time OB-GYN doctors so hated taking call that they hired nurse midwives to do the night delivers. I wish I could still be practicing.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a good thing that you’re not in it for the money! I am a part time GYN. Two days a week and surgery. I gave up OB when I started to have difficulty recovering from the busy call nights. This was at age 60. I understand that with the current “health business” in which we practice, our reimbursement for an annual exam has increased by $20 over 10 years! I pay my vet more for a 10 minute exam than what I get paid for a 20-30 minute appointment. So yeah it barely adds to the retirement plan. I am able to work 2 days a week as my group is one of maybe 3 that is still private (neither hospital owned nor corporate) in the entire state of Washington. I think about retirement all the time yet I keep going. I’ll be 66 this month and will need to live to 108 to use up all the yarn, fiber and fabric I’ve accumulated while getting myself to a single digit handicap. Still, I keep going. Although sometimes it’s hard to do so on the mornings I work, for the most part I enjoy it. I guess that’s why.
DeleteI retired after 40 years of practice 2 years ago and I can really say it was very hard at first being away from patient care ; however, since, I have been able to spend more time with family and friends which I had somewhat neglected over many long years as a practicing physician. I valued my patients greatly and provided first rate patient care but the last few years seemed to be more consumed with other concerns I.e. paperwork and EMRs so I knew it was time. The practice of medicine had changed and I was getting tired. I spend my time now with my wife dedicated more to family time and traveling. It is nice to be more involved with your own family and the years of stress as one retired patient told me once have been melting away.
ReplyDelete70. Competent,continent,care,committed,content.
ReplyDeleteI want to thank all of the commenters who offered poignant reflections and sober advice. We all know that timing is everything and our ability to predict our own future and what may be lurking around the corner for those close to us, is rather limited. I really love having an out-patient practice with no on-call or hospital work, etc. I wish I could have found such a position 10 or 15 years ago, but I was in a private practice then and no such option was possible. Even then, I did my best to achieve a reasonable work-life balance and I largely succeeded. But, of course, there were many family events that were cut short for me, middle of the night calls from nurses and colleagues and weekend hospital work. I believe that physicians today emerging from training are using a different template than ours with regard to the contours and boundaries of their professional lives.
ReplyDeleteI wish everyone well during their working years and beyond.
5 yrs ago I retired when I could no longer work at care for my wife because of Alzheimer’s disease. She was a GI nurse in a freestanding practice. She came home one day and said she couldn’t do it anymore. She was 60 years old. A few months later she was diagnose. Fortunately we traveled to a number of places. We were able to go to Hawaii, New Zealand, many Caribbean islands and more. Had we waited for retirement all of these places and memories would have been missed. I continue to work part time reviewing medical legal cases as a medical examiner, mostly to offset the costs of caring for my best friend/wife. I suggest that you enjoy your spouse and family because you don’t know what the future holds.
DeleteThank you
ReplyDeleteHANDS UP ALL THE PHYSICIANS WHO HAD THEIR WIFE AND LOVED ONES PARTNER AND NON-MEDICAL FRIENDS TELL THEM HOW BEREFT THEY FELT THAT THEY WERE ABANDONED FOR THE JOB. THE OLD LIE "DULCE ET GLORIOSUM EST PRO OPERE MORI". RINGS HOLLOW AFTER A WHILE. UNLESS YOU CANT PAY THE BILLS OR DONT HAVE ENOUGH TO RETIRE, CASH OUT WHILE YOU CAN. IF YOU DONT CARE JOIN THE RANKS OF THOSE WHO HELPED HUMANITY AND DIED WITH THE STETHESCOPE IN THERI HAND.
ReplyDeleteDear Friend. I just turned 60 and still love practicing. In May I took 3 weeks off and spent that time celebrating my 25 yr anniversary with my best friend and wife. Two weeks later we spent 4 days in Chicago with our 4 children for my birthday. I'll now be working a bit more intensively for two weeks before a couple 3 day weekend trips with my wife and boys again.
DeleteMuch like the author of the article I now only do what I want to in practice. I see patients in the office, no longer operate, take no call, am not responsible for acute medical issues beyond initial assessment and disposition. I balance work, life, and stress fairly well after 30 years in practice. Much better than I did during the 1st 10 when I did obstetrics (which I retired from at 40 as the work-life balance was completely out of wack). I'm fortunate due to circumstance, a fabulous wife, loving friends, colleagues, children and patients. Practicing medicine remains, intellectually intriguing and challenging to me. It's work but also joy, rewarding and humbling. It's not for everyone long term but for some of us it is a true calling.... keeping in mind that the nature of random business, practice, and life events can snuff out the positivity of anyone's career. Hence by lucky circumstances I am where I am. Hang in there! Noel R Williams MD
Retirement is inevitable unless one dies during the span of a career.
ReplyDeleteWhy not slow down if able? I plan to enjoy more time in my 50s while keeping my job part-time or doing locums.
I love what I do but have had a few colleagues suffer terrible health mishaps in their early 50s that have rendered them terribly disabled.
I don't want to wait until retirement because with retirement age comes the greater morbidity and mortality of advanced age.
I will practice until I can’t any longer, but I am sure my total career length will increase by eliminating or reducing the pain points of nights and weekends and administrative BS. Not to mention my BP and mental health.
I wish you all the best, and am honored to be one of you.
I would like to keep working as a hospital employed urologist ( it was my own private practice with 3 other associates when we joined the hospital 15 years ago). However I would like no more call responsibilities. I’ve practiced 36 years and cannot have my sleep disrupted. I am concerned about having to drive in the middle of the night being tired and then working a full day. No more call and I could work another 3- 5 years . I’m currently 67 years of age .
ReplyDeleteCall is the evil underbelly of medicine not enough people are talking about. Single handed reason for burnout/retirement imo
DeleteI totally agree about call. I have been practicing since 1986, and have moved about. I mainly worked in small hospitals doing every 3rd or 4 th night. Call was always the bain of my existence- recovering from call, resting up for call. With OB, I spent many nights in hospital babysitting epidurals (while Obstetricians were at home) I am currently at my “pre-retirement” job, with a private Anesthesia group (catching up on retirement funds). I love this job (at least until our hospital was hacked)- I work for a great group of doctors, and really enjoy what I do. I would have loved to have this job all my career (but these jobs didn’t exist, except GI or Eye centers- and I didn’t want to lose my skills). Lately though, I have seen so many pts in their 60’s that are disabled after working hard all their life. My husband retired last year. We want to travel, so next year I am planning on cutting back to maybe 6 months, and possibly doing some locums after that.
DeleteI’m 75, have been a cardiologist for 43 years, the first 20 employed by a large very busy hospital where I spent most of my time running the coronary ICU. Then moved to a more rural cardiology group practice where I only worked 4 days a week, but on those days, made rounds at the small local hospital, saw 30+ patients in the office, read all the echoes, stress tests, etc. For the last 4 years, have nirvana! Work 4 days a week with copious vacations, have a nurse and office manager for employees, see maybe 15 patients a day. No hospital involvement, no NPs. Know my patients and their families. Train my patients what to do when they need something and we are not in the office. Healthy, happy, I’ll quit when my office manager wants to retire, she does the tough stuff!
ReplyDeleteI have had a full career...ten years in academia, l0 years operating a group practice and thirty years in solo private practice...I have loved each step along the way but not as much as I love what i am doing now....general and forensic psychiatry...
ReplyDeleteAt age 70 I noticed something different...my friends were getting older, some getting sick, and whenver I met a colleague in town they asked if I was still working...did I look too old or did I just look poor?
At 75 I had an accident that knocked me off my feet for two months...I have gotten back into the swing of things but finally saw the light...I work four days a week, 9 AM - 2:30 PM...I have never dealt with insurers, no emr and no hospital affiliations, so that is all good...I supervise some np students from time to time ... spend about half time on forensic work and half time looking for someone who can come out and play...yes, my wife and I are downsizing and giving up some of the comforts of our home for an over 55 community where someone else cleans the pool, does the landscaping and shovels the snow but I am looking forward to it...I should have the transition completed in the next six weeks...I will continue to work but will utilize tele-health when it snows or rains too hard...I will smile more and "ugh" less! I didn't make the transition in the most graceful way but I did it and I wish it on all of you...PREPARE for it, withdraw from hospitals, withdraw from insurance panels and accept the downsizing as a step towards freedom! Live and be well!
I’m 74 and have been an OB-GYN all of my professional life. I have tried to retire twice and always manage to come back to active practice. I no longer deliver babies or do surgery but I do office 5 days a week seeing gynecology patients. Nearly 7 years ago I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. After being out for 6 months for chemo and surgery, I initially went back to work on a half day schedule. After being back in the office for 3 days, my husband remarked that he was so glad I had gone back to work. I figured he was glad I was out of his hair because he had been waiting on me hand and foot. But he said that wasn’t it at all, but rather, after getting back to the office for just 3 days he had finally seen a smile on my face for the first time in six months! I love what I do and I serve in a rural area where there is a need for doctors so, as long as I can continue without affecting patient care, I plan to do so. BTW, I have been battling a recurrence of my cancer for over 4 years!
ReplyDeleteI went to a retirement center with one of the doctors said that his wife marry him for better for us, but not for lunch
DeleteAfter inventing the EZ-IO and selling the company, I decided to embark on the most enjoyable and amazing journey of my life. I don't have to work for money. So, I volunteer at a free clinic for the homeless and uninsured in my county. I am also heavily involved in missionary work in El Salvador and have taken over 100 first time short term missionaries with me on 25 missions over the past 8 years. Now I have launched an innovative weight loss program to help folks with their lifestyle and to get off sugar and processed foods for a more fun filled life (Thin4Fun.com). I will not retire until I believe, or my trusted friends and family tell me, I am no longer fully engaged and competent. At 84, this is the best time of my life. Why retire?
ReplyDeleteI dropped carrying a patient panel and went "casual" as soon as both my husband and I qualified for Medicare, partly fed up with a poorly run EMR and partly to care for an aging parent. I still supervised residents in their outpatient clinic 1-2 half days per week until the Covid shut down. When they called me back but didn't give me any hours later in2020, I resigned in order to pull my deferred comp in a tax advantaged way and haven't looked back. I kept my license up for a couple of years but dropped it the year I would have had to put out big bucks for the next "stage" of Boards and to renew my DEA. I'm still sometimes sad I can't volunteer medically any more, but then after being out this long, even doing free CME was probably not enough to stay current. I volunteer in all kinds of other ways in my community and am definitely not bored!
ReplyDeleteCall is burnout. Burnout is call. Sure if you don’t work nights/weekends/holidays and get 600k to do endoscopies I’d not retire either! Title should be: GI doc makes a ton of money without call.
ReplyDeleteThis is so true. I retired at 59 because recovering from being on call was getting harder and harder. And there was no option for not taking call
DeleteI was "let go" by an Administrator who thought that older doctors were a drag on the system a couple of years ago. I found a Locums job where I've loved the work and been appreciated by the patients and the APPs I supervise. It's been truly a blessing to feel needed still. I don't know that I'm ready NOT to have that sense that I'm doing something that really matters, although I don't mind working 3 days a week now. I do hope that I'm self-aware enough to know when it's time to hang it up, though. I've been burned out a few times over the years and not really perceptive about that. I definitely have more trouble remembering drug names than I did a quarter century ago when I was only 42. Hopefully I'll be old and wizened by the time Alzheimers take me away.
ReplyDelete1.You may get more money, you will not get more time.
ReplyDelete2. No one on their death bed ever says: “I wish I’d spent more time at my job’.”
Choose wisely….
Very wise.
DeleteDon’t retire! slow down your office hours, shed the call, use a scribe for charting, and continue to stimulate your brain.
ReplyDeleteI'm a 66 yo FP, still working full time. Like the author, I still enjoy what I do, and I can still do it. But I do plan on retiring within the next 18 months or so in spite of that, because there are other things I enjoy and other areas that I want to explore and learn about. Staying on the job for much longer, even though I like it and I'm good at it, seems a little like graduating from high school but not wanting to leave. Retirement is another opportunity to go anywhere and do anything and learn anything. I'm not sure what that will be yet, but I'm excited to find out.
ReplyDeleteI am in a transition time, I think. I was working 12 days on / 2 days off as a general surgeon and endoscopist. Was not aware of it at the time, but as the years went by (36) my emotional self suffered and with it all those around me. Not until I was hospitalized with anxiety/depression (for the third time) was I able to realize what I was putting myself through. I was able to recover and rebuild my marriage. Currently I do general surgery and endoscopy but have stopped doing "big" cases. I limit myself to outpatient procedures and only occasionally do I have to go to a hospital-when one of my recently operated patients develops a complication. I no longer take call; no nights or weekends, so life is good. But I do think about when it is time to stop altogether. I have time, health and money, so soon is the time to stop. I would rather decide the date on my own, and not be forced to quit because I hurt a patient because of a judgement lapse.
ReplyDeleteI look at where to live (want to downsize), when to pull the retirement trigger, but my big unknown is where to put my time and energy once I am out. I am still looking for that thing or things that gives me the desire to get up in the morning, and the satisfaction of feeling I have accomplished something. I am also looking at the spiritual aspect of retirement and living the big questions. Again, I feel like I am in transition. Scared, but at the same time excited about what is to come.
Answer these 2 questions: 1) Have you had enough? 2) Do you have enough? If the answers are yes to both are yes, retire. You will be amazed how easily you can fill your time with exciting, fulfilling and useful endeavors outside of medicine.
DeleteMy advice…..be ready, be prepared, and have a plan when you decide to retire.
ReplyDeleteI started medical school at 31 after having my 3 children, so I was 9 years older than most of my class. I had a 30+ year family medicine career and loved what I did. I was on the staffs of three hospitals and took call 24/7 for many of the years I practiced.
I retired at age 67, (now 71) but wasn’t completely ready to quit. So, at 67 I worked 8-10 hours a week at Urgent Care and loved it! No call, no hospital and I could do what I did best and go home. It was a perfect world for me.
Unfortunately, Covid ended that as the risk of continued work simply did not outweigh the benefits at the time.
For 2 years I had a difficult time with the transition, mostly because I was not fully ready to retire. My patients were like friends. I supported them and they supported me. I missed them and I missed the comradery of my employees.
So, I started practicing self-care, keeping connections with my grown children and grandchildren, old friends, and now (post pandemic) starting to travel again.
I lived a “big” life with my own medical practice. Sometimes over 3500 patients to care for, plus my family. I had 2 marriages, (both exes now deceased) and now remarried and living “small.” I’ve decided to use my kid’s inheritances to enjoy travelling with them while I’m still here.
For those first 2 years of retirement, I really wanted to go back but couldn’t. Now I’m happy to be retired. I’m finding new purpose every day. My time is mine and I love it.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteI am in my mid-70's now, luckily in good health, retired at age 65, never thought about retirement and whenever the question arose from fellow physicians I used to say "I will keep working until I drop dead", my absurd plan changed when the colleague I cross covered with said: "I will retire in 3 months, so you will need to plan accordingly", the idea of working 24x7x365 again did not excite me so I ended retiring together with my colleague and one month earlier than the original 3 months, after thinking: "whatever realized doing medicine for more than 50 years, is already a done deal and few months more or less will make no difference". I had and have other interests besides medicine, life is a little more than the narrow window offered by Medicine, -and all of that anguish that arose from not being able to do other things because of the willing dedication to Medicine- that anguish has been replaced by the gratification of doing other activities that time constraints didn't allow me to enjoy while fully immersed in Medicine, which I did enjoy enormously. Maybe the most important question about retirement for a physician would be: would I genuinely dedicate my time to non-medical activities and by doing so, fulfill other inclinations, allow the self to grow in other directions and obtain gratification in the journey?
ReplyDeleteIt's cheaper to keep her. Dont ask me how I know.
ReplyDeleteLife is about finding meaning, not just having fun. If you find meaning in your work as a physician, then keep doing it. If you find greater meaning in other things, then retire.
ReplyDeleteAs a 74 year old psychiatrist with a solo private practice, I work about half time and am grateful to be able to do so. An older colleague once told me a story of how he responded to patients who asked if he was thinking of retiring. He looked thoughtfully, and then would say: "What is retirement? Retirement is when you get to the point in life when you can do whatever to want to do. I guess I must be retired!"
Well, I guess I'm retired too!
The answer varies widely. If medicine is your job to make a living, you are practically positioned to retire and you want to, retire. I did. If medicine remains more rewarding than other things you can be doing, and the downsides aren't dragging you down too much, stick with it if you can. Each physician is a unique individual, the specialties vary, individual jobs vary, etc... There is not one-size-fits-all answer.
ReplyDeletePerfect answer
DeleteI was a solo practice GP and I used to say that I would practice medicine forever, then I said I would practice until my husband died (he took care of the bills and the taxes). I then said I would retire when my accountant husband said that I should retire as the insurance companies made the practice of medicine more difficult and my overhead grew. I think that my husband thought my practice was an expensive hobby. I was not burnt out. I loved my patients and my practice and had the best staff of my career. I used to wonder though if my mind, my eyesight, or my body would force my hand to retire sooner. I decided that involuntary flatulence would force me to retire sooner! Fortunately it was a decision to finish out a 10 year lease and I retired at the top of my game after 31 years of private practice. Having pushed through college, medical school, marriage, childbearing, chid-raising and starting a solo practice without much of a break, we can now enjoy grandparenting, and the extended travel that we couldn't do with my solo practice. I retired before my rent doubled, and before the pandemic. I admire the physicians who continue to practice and was little surprised that I adjusted so easily. I still see my patients in the community and have a group of supportive doctor colleagues with whom I continue to stay in touch. That has helped the transition. We traveled to Spain in June and have a trip to Turkey planned in the Fall while we can still physically keep up the pace. And our grandchildren know us very well and enjoy our company. Life is good. We lived frugally so that we could enjoy retirement.
ReplyDeleteI just turned 60 3 months ago. I opened a solo pediatric practice 18 years ago with my husband, who is a non-practicing MD, and who takes care of the administrative part of the practice. We got married late so our youngest just graduated high school 2 weeks ago and will be off to college in the fall. Our middle son is also still in college. Bottom line, I can’t retire even if I wanted to because we are still putting two kids through college. Our oldest joined the workforce only two years ago. We have a youngish family although I’m 60 and my husband is almost 60.
ReplyDeleteDo I want to retire though? Not really yet. I enjoy what I do. The Hospitalists have taken over the hospital work so I concentrate on the office. It has been very rewarding to see patients I took care of since birth to graduate high school and go off to college. I now have a big group of former patients, some of whom I took care of from the newborn nursery onward, who come and bring their own babies to me. They refer to me as their grand-doctor!
I'm a pediatrician too, and have former pts bringing their kids to me. It's great! I'm 67 and started late in medicine at 31. I have a full time practice and care for my disabled mom every night and on weekends. I need to work for financial reasons but I want to work because I enjoy helping kids and families. I don't know when I'll retire but I know I'll keep doing something to help kids when I do. And if I didn't need to work for financial reasons, I would cut down on my hours right now not because of patient care but because of EMR and all the other administrative burdens placed on us. I like to spend time with patients not the computer.
DeleteI am almost 71 years old and still working full time as a physician- 40 yrs now! My father worked as a physician/Internist/hospital medicine to age 78 - then had a stroke at 81 and died at 93. I would love to work part time until at least my mid 70s. Not that many part time jobs around. I have tried to get my current full time job to let me work 4 days a week. They were unenthusiastic about my changing to part time and convinced me to stay full time but I am looking at California jobs rather than Texas where in California they believe in part time work for MDs- I saw 18 four day a week jobs in California advertized on-line - none in Texas! Society should try to accommodate easier schedules for us elderly physicians as we need/want to minimize the stress in our lives but still love practicing medicine! Possibly doing locums work, especially in California is the way to get an easier lifestyle in medicine. I am considering it.
ReplyDeleteRead through some of these comments. I entered the field late. Went to medical school late (age 34 with a 3 month old baby and a very patient wife) and after finishing 10 years of training started work as a gastroenterologist at the age of 44. After 26 years in practice, I retired. I had had some chronic medical problems that played into that decision when Covid became prevalent but to be honest, I was completely disgusted with the global deterioration of medicine in the US. I worked out of a group practice with affiliations at 2 hospitals. They all had different medical records systems all of which were obtuse and cumbersome. The docs in the practice were all saddled with doing notes well into the night hours. There were hospital responsibilities with rounds a few nights per week (on GI patients only) There were reimbursement issues. Press Gainey evaluations were given to patients to fill out and suddenly pay was tied to your evaluation performance. Suddenly doctors were giving patients what they wanted as opposed to what they needed, for fear of getting a negative evaluation. But for me, what I found most objectionable was the hiring of a "GI NP" This individual had no GI training to speak of. Her approach to every patient involved ordering every possible test and seeing if anything stuck. Initially she was supposed to be seeing only pre colonoscopy screening patients and that was bad enough but when I discovered that she was seeing GI consults and was getting no supervision from the doc that was supposed to be overseeing her work, I tendered my resignation and frankly, I never looked back. I am immersed in my other interests (music, reading and dog rearing) and have never been happier. My 5 AM to 9PM days are a thing of the past. I still love medicine and enjoyed taking care of my patients but corporate medicine sucked the fun out of practicing and replaced it with Dilbert-like drudgery. No regrets.
ReplyDeleteI started as a Navy Corpsman at age 17, used the GI bill to go to undergrad
ReplyDeletestuding pre-med. I could not get into medical school right away (GPA 3.3, not the best way to grab medical school interviews!) so I went to PA school just so I could keep studing medicine. I worked as an Emergency Room PA in what would now be called the urgent care side of the department. I got into medical school and graduated in 1990. I have been working straight nights and weekends in the ER ever since (I am the only one in my group that has a set schedule and I do not have to deal with "suits"!) I have the best of both worlds, I can not wait to get to work (my calling, not just a job) and I equally can not wait to get back home to my wife of 40 years! We have decided that we take a lot of time off to go on cruses, concerts, dinner, vist grandchildren, and do our hobbies. We do it now while we are still healthy enough to do things. I can not emagine doing anything else than emergency medicine. I will most likly be one of those physicians who die doing their work, that is why we do many things now when we are still healthy. I am 65, hopefully will work 5 more years as an ER doctor, then semi-retire with my other full time job, being Chief Medical Officer in our county jail of 350 inmates. I am on call by phone 24/7 but we also have 24/7 nurses on site. I only have to go in Monday-Wed.- Friday for a few hours. Until I can not mentally or physicially work I will keep doing what I was called to do. Physicians were knocked off their pedistal 2 decades ago, and medicine went downhill when patients became "clients" (Dr. Google has not helped either), but it is still the finest profession I know. I see God heal through me daily and get to watch this miricle. I grew up with an old GP that made house calls and his very protective wife was his very protective recepeptionest! This is the main reason I became a doctor. Let us all be someone someone else would like to be!
After 35+ years in my chosen field of medicine, most recently as a department chair, I stepped down and resumed part-time clinical duties. Rather than looking at retirement as a zero-sum game, I chose to focus on sharing my expertise with patients and future physicians in a framework which is more sustainable for the longer term. One of the largest deficiencies in medical careers, apart from the lack of mentorship, is that of career guidance. In essence, I had to develop the vision, create the construct, and effect the landing. Hopefully, younger physicians will be more astute and rather than working as my generation did - literally until one dropped - they will be more contemplative and calculating to create more imaginative and fulfilling careers.
ReplyDeleteAfter 44 years of practicing medicine, building a 16 provider practice, I slowed down to working one only one week a month. I could never see myself just walking away. I am able to go on vacations, spend time with my wife and family. See my grandkids and still come back to my practice. It's MY MEDICINE to keeping young. I think I found the balance.
ReplyDeleteKicked out by the board at 55! Never looking back! Free to recover and love my family. Work is slavery. Enjoy your loved ones most of all!
ReplyDeleteRetired 4.5 yrs ago.Had 2 levels of practice reduction over 7 years prior. Total practice 36 years.Did not realize how much I hated the job. Retire sooner if you can. Patients and coworkers don’t make your life. Spouse, family deserve better than relegation to “ couldn’t have done it without ‘em.”
ReplyDeleteVery interesting prospectives and all coming mostly from different areas and ideology. I have just turned 78 and and am still going, not as much as before but still working. My situation may be a little different from others. I do not have to be on site. I am in Radiology and working for the same group for the past 13 years- why do i do that- I moved to Florida (although there are no state income taxes, the cost of living is still pretty high). I was able to continue to practice over the internet- a blessing - because at a young age of 52, my group in another state, had and perpetuated poor ergonomics. Why didn't i leave - because it was a wonderful place to bring up my children. But it took such a toll on my spine that one short forminotomy in 1978 alleviated the sciatica but then in Florida, I developed neural impingement on my cervical cord and needed an emergent cervical fusion - worked well. Then came the lower spine, a fusion from L1 to the pelvis, followed by a fusion from T10-L2. Some pain but i was able to work comfortably and and actually play golf, quite well. Desiring to become young, I wanted the pain gone so i decided to undergo a spinal cord stimulator trial. The neurosurgeon (a different one) had other ideas and did a permanent trial (oxymoron). She broke every rule and destroyed my spine. I was the reopened after 6 months, after she caused spinal cord compression, and am now fused from T8 down with the stimulator leads in good place.
ReplyDeleteWhy am I mentioning this, yes i would like to do outside activities but golf was always relaxing and socializing, vacations would be difficult but I don't enjoy reading- I enjoy doing- so there are remote control airplanes in a friendly club where the planes range from $300 to $18,000 dollars. Working 3-4 hrs a day fills in those gaps and as someone had mentioned - if you still got it - do it and some of us actually relate to and talk to patients and referring docs. So when to retire -
I enjoy what I do.
I can still do the job and quite well.
Over 15 years as a hospitalist and now over 3 years as a part timer. I learned how to live simply within my means and finally found my work life balance. Work week can still
ReplyDeleteBe brutal but I have 3 weeks to recuperate and do whatever I want. I will keep working as long they allow me to work part time. I’m lucky and grateful. I’m hoping most of you get their chance to have work and life balance.
While I respect physician autonomy to decide when they are prepared to transition out of practice and while there are meaningful clinical needs that outstrip supply in many parts of the country, it should be recognized by older physicians that when they "scale back" in a hospital or group practice setting, they often do so at the expense of their younger colleagues' time and well-being. Who is picking up the call you don't take or the shifts you don't do? And the younger generation of physicians also deserve upward mobility in the form of leadership positions and opportunity that get stymied when older physicians cling to those roles rather than graciously lift up their younger colleagues. If you are over 65 and still practicing because you love patient care, wonderful. Just remember the younger physicians below you, lest you amplify all of the problems medicine already has (burnout, over reliance on hierarchy, etc).
ReplyDeleteAt 71 I continue to practice as a hospitalist at a busy academic facility. I love everything about it, the patients, the excitement of emergency cases, the camaraderie with other people in my specialty, my residents, and other specialties. So on the one hand, I’m operating at full speed, but yet I have not forgotten that I am a senior citizen. As such, I have designated an individual who is my shoulder tapper, to let me know when I need to step away. You’ve heard the term “he’s no rocket scientist“ well my father was a rocket scientist yet till the day he died he didn’t realize he had dementia. So let’s still work hard if we want to, but also make sure we’re still doing a good job.
ReplyDeleteYou won't know you are ready to retire until you do. And then most wish they had retired earlier & that they had planned better for retirement. I echo both & also add that you'll probably need less money than you thought. My only advice : make plans to do something every day then do it. Keep moving! If you stop. Moving you'll seize up.
ReplyDelete