Calling all retired physicians (and those prepping to retire)

[disneysteve]

In another thread, I discovered that there are at least 4 retired physicians on the forum. I thought we should carve out a space for ourselves as there are some issues that come with retiring from the medical field that are a bit different than what other occupations might experience. I'd love for us to share our journeys and how we've managed the transition. For those not yet retired, let's hear from you, too. What's your plan? What concerns do you have about hanging up your stethoscope?

I retired May 26, 2024 so recently crossed the 2-year mark. I was in Family Practice from 1993 to 2017. In 2016 I started doing per diem work for a hospital-owned Urgent Care chain. I liked that so much I cut my practice back to PT and then left entirely in late 2017 going FT with UC. I eventually reduced that to PT and then per diem again before finally retiring.

I miss the people. We had a great team at UC. And I miss the patient relationships developed over the years in Family Practice. I had multiple 4-generation families in my practice. It's very gratifying to be a part of people's lives in that way. But I do not miss the work, the hassles, the non-compliance, the paperwork, and having to report to anyone for anything. No quality metrics to meet. My time is my own. I have not regretted my decision to retire for a second.

Oh, I was 59 when I retired, not quite 3 months shy of my 60th birthday.

Feel free to share your story and how you've navigated the change from doctor to retiree.

 

[old medic]

I wasn't a Physician, but I played like one for 36 years. 4 years out and I still miss some of the clowns, but not the circus. I made some lifelong friends among some of my co-workers and hospital staff. I had some issues when it came time for my certification to expire.... Then some SOB approved it to be extended just in case I might want to come back and work some. I am loving being retired and anxiously waiting for DW to join me in a few months. My biggest issues are sleep.... 12 hour rotating shifts will get you, and some of the memories come back from time to time. Its amazing what can trigger the brain to remember... Just yesterday a movie scene took me back to a wreck with a young lady we know, she was 17 then and is now a grandmother...
I still drop by the base, or they might stop by the house if out this way and have a minute. The current director was a paramedic student I precepted years ago and now looking at retiring himself.

 

[Sarah S]

Retired at 56 from internal medicine. Miss the patients but not the politics. Or the non direct patient care part. I used to say if I could be beamed from room to room my job would be perfect

 

[Gremlin]

In another thread, I discovered that there are at least 4 retired physicians on the forum. I thought we should carve out a space for ourselves as there are some issues that come with retiring from the medical field that are a bit different than what other occupations might experience. I'd love for us to share our journeys and how we've managed the transition. For those not yet retired, let's hear from you, too. What's your plan? What concerns do you have about hanging up your stethoscope?

I retired May 26, 2024 so recently crossed the 2-year mark. I was in Family Practice from 1993 to 2017. In 2016 I started doing per diem work for a hospital-owned Urgent Care chain. I liked that so much I cut my practice back to PT and then left entirely in late 2017 going FT with UC. I eventually reduced that to PT and then per diem again before finally retiring.

I miss the people. We had a great team at UC. And I miss the patient relationships developed over the years in Family Practice. I had multiple 4-generation families in my practice. It's very gratifying to be a part of people's lives in that way. But I do not miss the work, the hassles, the non-compliance, the paperwork, and having to report to anyone for anything. No quality metrics to meet. My time is my own. I have not regretted my decision to retire for a second.

Oh, I was 59 when I retired, not quite 3 months shy of my 60th birthday.

Feel free to share your story and how you've navigated the change from doctor to retiree.

Pediatrician here. Not retired yet. Spent 5 years in private practice in Florida then the next 24 years as a hospitalist in remote Alaska that provides care to the 50 surrounding villages. 18 of those years I commuted from the lower 48, involving usually 24-36 hours of air travel to get to work. The job was challenging, never boring, but also very intense. I hit a wall (AKA burn out!) last year and dropped to 50%, doing remote work for them only. This allowed me to be the caregiver for my brother for 3 months as he went through his stem cell transplant and to help my brothers take care of my elderly mother.

I am enjoying advising the health aides as they care for patients in the village but no longer being in the thick of things. My current plan is to retire 11/2027 at the age of 61. I have no concerns about hanging up my stethoscope as I feel I've done my job as best I could, for as long as I could, and it's time to move on.

 

[disneysteve]

I still drop by the base

I stopped into one of our clinics a couple of times but because of the nature of our scheduling and staffing, there's no way for me to know in advance who will be working at any given time. Even when I left, there were providers who I didn't really know or hadn't met at all, and even more so 2 years later. I don't want to pop in for a visit only to find I don't know any of the staff. That's just awkward. If it was a setting with the same people working every day, I would have visited more.

I do still visit my old family practice regularly. I was there a few days ago as my mom still uses them as her PCP. I also drop by now and then to pick up samples of a certain medication. That's only 1 doctor and 3 staff people who have all been there for years. Even though it's been nearly 9 years since I left, I'm still comfortable popping in. Plus I always encounter former patients who are excited to see me.

 

[Gremlin]

I do still visit my old family practice regularly.

As I mentioned in my edited post, the commute makes it difficult for me to "drop by" the hospital where I worked. Fortunately, I do still get to interact with the wonderful health aides providing care in the villages, some of whom I've worked with for 20+ years. Once I retire, they are the people I will miss the most.

 

[Flyfish1]

I'm a retired ENT. I retired at age 59 , just over three years ago. I did catch some flack from colleagues about "quitting at such an early age". Some colleagues were incredulous that anyone could afford to retire at 59. I do miss some of the people, especially the camaraderie in the OR with the nurses, techs and Anesthesiologists.
I do not miss the fast pace of the office,I do not miss patients showing up 25 min. late, I do not miss administration hassles from the hospital and I especially don't miss the ER and the non stop hospital consults. When I was on call, it was almost a guarantee that the ER or a hospitalist would call at 10:30 at night with an urgent issue that required me to go in. Then on weekends sitting around all weekend just waiting for the same people to call me back in. As you can see I'm not quite over that..yet. The hospital text service which the ER used as well, had a specific text tone, and if I hear that sound to this day, my BP spikes!

I still have lots of dreams about the hospital, about surgeries, etc.. My first year in retirement was a little rough. I chose not to renew my license or do anything medically related in retirement. Plus, we moved out of state so I had to make new friends and fit into the new community. All in all it's been good and I love where we live. I do look back every now and then and think - you know I helped a lot of people over my career. That's a good feeling.

 

[disneysteve]

I chose not to renew my license or do anything medically related in retirement.

I wanted to maintain my license but that would have required maintaining malpractice insurance which simply wasn't practical, so I am no longer licensed which is kind of sad but such is life.

I do look back every now and then and think - you know I helped a lot of people over my career. That's a good feeling.

For sure. As I mentioned, I sometimes stop into my old practice and every time run into former patients. Seeing that they still remember me fondly (it's been 9+ years) and keep asking if I'm coming back does make me feel good. I know that I did a lot of good for thousands of people over my 31 years in practice. I very literally saved multiple lives. What more could anyone ask for?

 

[old medic]

Plus I always encounter former patients who are excited to see me.

I dropped by the ER a couple months back when DW was in surgery... Everyone just kinda looked at me not one of the staff knew me.... Then the hospital nursing supervisor walked in, screamed and runs up giving me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.... the looks were even better.
I run into folks around here all the time that ask if I remember picking them up, or that I saved them....

Plus, we moved out of state so I had to make new friends and fit into the new community.

We talked about moving, mostly because I can't go anywhere around here that doesn't have a memory.

 

[pb4uski]

DBIL retired a few years ago at 65 yo. He was a family practice doc and ended up as a hospitalist and eventually CMO of a local community hospital for many years.

He worked part-time per diem for his former employer for about a year as I recall. Now, he does a little part-time remote work for the SSA reviewing SSDI claims but has a lot of time and a very flexible schedule.

I'll also give a mention to https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/ which is on point.

 

[Flyfish1]

I dropped by the ER a couple months back when DW was in surgery... Everyone just kinda looked at me not one of the staff knew me.... Then the hospital nursing supervisor walked in, screamed and runs up giving me a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.... the looks were even better.
I run into folks around here all the time that ask if I remember picking them up, or that I saved them....

We talked about moving, mostly because I can't go anywhere around here that doesn't have a memory.

Yeah - definitely pros and cons to staying or moving. I would always run into people in every restaurant, Home Depot, etc.. It was nice, but sometimes a bit awkward. Here it's very different, no one calls me Dr., even if I list MD on my patient intake forms. Neighbors eventually find out and starting asking medical questions. But the good part is this place I associate with fun, relaxation, boating where back in the old place the associations were often stressful at least for me.

 

[Flyfish1]

DBIL retired a few years ago at 65 yo. He was a family practice doc and ended up as a hospitalist and eventually CMO of a local community hospital for many years.

He worked part-time per diem for his former employer for about a year as I recall. Now, he does a little part-time remote work for the SSA reviewing SSDI claims but has a lot of time and a very flexible schedule.

I'll also give a mention to https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/ which is on point.

Spent a lot of time on that site for quite a few years prior to retirement. Very good IMO.

 

[planuntilthefisthits]

I'm not a physician, but I can relate to many of the issues raised here. For my early career, I was an internal consultant with a business degree and a Ph.D. Throughout the organization, I would be referred to as "Doc." and just about everyone in the organization knew who I was. In essence, I was a "public figure" and would run into the organization's employees all around town while I was off-duty. Later, and for most of my career, I was an independent consultant and made connections all around my region.

Like physicians, my output was valued (as an expert) and sometimes lifesaving (but in a different way). The relationships I formed with the professionals in the various organizations for whom I consulted were longstanding (some over 30 years) and meaningful.

Retirement meant relinquishing most of the social bonds forged while consulting, and that was a known risk when I decided to retire. I still have contact with some, and truly enjoy that.

It took some time, but I really enjoy not having the responsibility and stress for high-stakes organizational decisions for which I was relied upon. Now, my typical garb is a tee shirt and shorts and I am pretty invisible/anonymous to most of the world around me. That is a great feeling.

 

[GlitterGirl]

Hubby is a retired ophthalmologist and I am a retired RN. He retired in the fall of 2008. He retired at age 62 in 2008. Yeah…2008…perfect timing but really it was okay. I worked for ten more years and we just let our investments ride until the market recovered. He worked at a medical school and spent much of his time teaching and he was really, really ready to retire. He said he missed his students and colleagues but did not miss the bureaucracy and crazy on call schedule at a high volume hospital. I struggled with retirement as I loved my work and retired three times before it “stuck”. . My sister was diagnosed with breast cancer and that was the impetus for me to really retire as I wanted to be at chemo and radiation treatments with her. She recovered and I still miss working some days but I’ve been out so long that I am sure I am no longer competent!

 

[FatCyclist]

This is a long story, but I'll try to do the abreviated version. Pediatric Intensivist and ICU director, then added part time CMIO (Chief Medical Informatics Officer), then added CIO and dropped the patient care, then "retired" in 2015 at 57. Took up informatics consulting and teaching thinking if I made enough money to cover health insurance until I got to Medicare, I'd be doing well. Wound up replacing all of my pre-retirement income and had a blast doing it. Slowed down during COVID and finally really retired last year.

Like others here, I miss the people, but not so much the work. Consulting was fun--they pay you the same whether they follow your advice or not (often not).

 

[Koolau]

It never occurred to me that if I were to leave Megacorp they wouldn't either back-fill my position or "do without." No one would care - they did their best to let me know that. Even if I'd been a very important member of some team at Megacorp, the worst that would have happened when I left would be Megacorp might make a few less dollars. No one would "die" or be ill.

I wonder what it's like to be a physician with the ability to "save lives" but be thinking about retirement. Does a physician worry about the patients s/he will no longer be able to care for? I'm thinking THAT would be the toughest thing about your decision to retire. Giving up the politics and the insurance cr@p and long hours, yeah, that would be just like my leaving Megacorp. But I'm betting that patients would tug at your heart strings and make you stay longer than you really wanted to.

For patients everywhere, thanks for staying as long as you did! May you have long and happy retirements. You deserve it.

 

[street]

It never occurred to me that if I were to leave Megacorp they wouldn't either back-fill my position or "do without." No one would care - they did their best to let me know that. Even if I'd been a very important member of some team at Megacorp, the worst that would have happened when I left would be Megacorp might make a few less dollars. No one would "die" or be ill.

I wonder what it's like to be a physician with the ability to "save lives" but be thinking about retirement. Does a physician worry about the patients s/he will no longer be able to care for? I'm thinking THAT would be the toughest thing about your decision to retire. Giving up the politics and the insurance cr@p and long hours, yeah, that would be just like my leaving Megacorp. But I'm betting that patients would tug at your heart strings and make you stay longer than you really wanted to.

For patients everywhere, thanks for staying as long as you did! May you have long and happy retirements. You deserve it.

Very nicely said, and some great thoughts for a profession of such demand.

 

[old medic]

I wonder what it's like to be a physician with the ability to "save lives" but be thinking about retirement.

That was the hardest part for me on throwing in the towel. I wanted to know that the service I was leaving behind was better than when I started. About 1/2 the staff when I left were people I had helped train over the years.... Including the director. I'm very proud that 3 of them are now instructors with 2 local collages teaching the next generations of medics.
I can see it being the hardest on family physicians where they have cared for the same folks over years.

 

[disneysteve]

I wonder what it's like to be a physician with the ability to "save lives" but be thinking about retirement. Does a physician worry about the patients s/he will no longer be able to care for?

For 17 years, I was in family practice in one of the poorest cities in America, a very medically under-served community. Having been there that long, I had developed close relationships with many of my patients. I had many 3 and even 4-generation families that I cared for. Walking away from that was hard. I knew my partner, who owned the practice, likely wouldn't fully replace me because it just wasn't financially feasible to do so. That meant that a lot of my patients might have to find care elsewhere which is challenging in that area. My partner has had a series of NPs working there but they don't see anywhere near the volume of patients that I saw.

My last 7 years in practice I was with Urgent Care. That was a very different dynamic since we had between 5 and 9 locations over that time period and a few dozen providers. I knew that when I left, there would be someone to fill my shifts and continue to care for those patient populations.

Nobody is irreplaceable but some leave bigger shoes to fill than others. I'd like to think I left big shoes behind. At my family practice, for sure, and even at urgent care. There not only did I do the job but I also spent a lot of time teaching my younger colleagues how to do stuff. I was also frequently the voice of the team at staff meetings, never shy to speak up about an issue that affected all of us but nobody else wanted to bring up. That was appreciated not only by my colleagues but also by administration. They knew me to be fair and level headed such that if I was raising the complaint, it was something they knew was worth taking seriously.

 

[pacergal]

Does a physician worry about the patients s/he will no longer be able to care for? I'm thinking THAT would be the toughest thing about your decision to retire.

Absolutely was the hardest part of retirement.
I was an RN in public health for over 35 years. I took care of adults who I cared for as kids! And sometimes also saw their babies. As a care manager, I was very involved in their lives.
Don't miss the politics, the day to day "work", but sure miss the patients.

 

[planuntilthefisthits]

Consulting was fun--they pay you the same whether they follow your advice or not (often not).

It was always interesting that they would pay big money to ignore expert advice.

 

[disneysteve]

Consulting was fun--they pay you the same whether they follow your advice or not (often not).

That's exactly how family practice worked, and one of many reasons I left family practice. Few patients followed my medical advice. It frustrated me to no end that they would be totally compliant with their visits, coming in as scheduled every time, but frequently not having done anything I told them to do. Did you take your meds? No. Did you go for the test I ordered? No. Have you made any effort to modify your diet? No. Have you started any sort of regular exercise? No. Why bother coming back?

At least with urgent care, if they didn't follow my advice, it didn't matter to me because I wasn't going to see them again, or at least not for the same issue.

 

[Koolau]

That's exactly how family practice worked, and one of many reasons I left family practice. Few patients followed my medical advice. It frustrated me to no end that they would be totally compliant with their visits, coming in as scheduled every time, but frequently not having done anything I told them to do. Did you take your meds? No. Did you go for the test I ordered? No. Have you made any effort to modify your diet? No. Have you started any sort of regular exercise? No. Why bother coming back?

At least with urgent care, if they didn't follow my advice, it didn't matter to me because I wasn't going to see them again, or at least not for the same issue.

I'm reasonably compliant with my doctor(s). I have a couple of areas I'm not as compliant (consistent exercise). BUT, in general, I do what my doctor(s) say I should do. AND for the most part, my doctors give ME options. I appreciate that. And if I commit to something, I virtually always carry through on it.

I don't understand those who do NOT commit at least at some level. We pay a lot for health care. Why would we do that and then not comply with our care team's recommendations? If we cannot agree with our care team on a health plan (so many threads here on statins, for instance) then we need to find a different care team in my opinion.

 

[disneysteve]

I'm reasonably compliant with my doctor(s). I have a couple of areas I'm not as compliant (consistent exercise). BUT, in general, I do what my doctor(s) say I should do. AND for the most part, my doctors give ME options. I appreciate that. And if I commit to something, I virtually always carry through on it.

I don't understand those who do NOT commit at least at some level. We pay a lot for health care. Why would we do that and then not comply with our care team's recommendations? If we cannot agree with our care team on a health plan (so many threads here on statins, for instance) then we need to find a different care team in my opinion.

Trust me. I can tell you from 33 years in practice that non-compliance is a huge problem. So many negative outcomes could be avoided if patients would just follow medical advice.

 

[Sarah S]

Does anyone remember this cartoon? We had it hanging by our scale "All these years, and you haven't listened to a damn thing I've said, have?" - New Yorker Cartoon Framed Premium Giclee Print by Charles Barsotti, 12" x 9", Sold by Art.com - Walmart.com