Survey Sheds Light on Physician Retirement

Evolutionary Process

Things will change as your health, family needs and interests do during your retirement years. This is as much of an evolutionary process as your career.

“From my own experiences, [I think] you need to take your time and study your options to see which ones are working and which ones aren’t,” says Dr. Hendrie. “My retired friends, both physician and otherwise, say it takes up to a year to adapt to new circumstances. You have more freedom [when you’re retired] in a way, but don’t think that leaving your job is going to solve everything. Successful retirement remains a process.” 

Kurt Ullman is a freelance writer based in Indiana.

References

1. Physician views on retirement. CompHealth. 2017 Jul.
2. Ritter MA, Austrom MG, Zhou H, Hendrie HC. Retirement from orthopaedic surgery. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 1999 Mar;81(3):414–418.
3. Guerriero Austrom M, Perkins AJ, Damush TM, Hendrie HC. Predictors of life satisfaction in retired physicians and spouses. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol. 2003 Mar;38(3):134–141