Background: Physicians are planful beings, spending much time imagining and trying to design their ideal careers. Yet, despite actuarial expectations that physicians may spend almost two decades in retirement, it is paradoxical that little attention is generally given to designing an ideal retirement.

Methods: The coauthors are physicians in the latter parts of their careers who both teach leadership to physicians and have thought deeply about physician transitions, including retirement. This perspective narrative is based on their observations, actual experience of colleagues who have retired well and their review of relevant literature.

Results: Several forces restrain physicians from imagining an ideal retirement: first, as with people in general, physicians may be averse to change, and second, thinking about retirement may be framed through a deficit-based lens (eg, "I am retiring because I want to avoid some unpleasant features of my current career.") Though physicians are predisposed to deficit-based thinking by virtue of their longstanding practice of developing differential diagnoses in clinical reasoning, appreciative or asset-based thinking about retirement (eg, "I am retiring because I am attracted to activities that have not otherwise been possible in my career.") offers richer possibilities and is encouraged. A rubric for navigating retirement regards being intentional about identity, relationships and purpose in the new state. A taxonomy for types in retirement is offered, recognising that physicians may exemplify more than one type or migrate among them. Finally, several examples of successful retirement by the authors' colleagues are offered.

Conclusions: We endorse physicians' being as planful and intentional about retirement as they are about designing their careers. Our hope is that the described issues and approach enhance physicians' likelihood to achieve the fulfilment and impact in retirement that they seek.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/leader-2024-001179DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

retirement
10
physicians
8
thinking retirement
8
winding wind
4
wind designing
4
designing one's
4
one's medical
4
medical career
4
career intentionality
4
intentionality background
4

Similar Publications

Current evidence concerning the effect of physical activity and social engagement on cognitive functioning in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is underdeveloped. Drawing upon cognitive reserve theory, we used linear mixed models to investigate the impact of physical activity and social engagement on cognitive functioning in older adults living with MCI utilizing 16 years of data from the Health and Retirement Study ( = 1462). The average cognitive score (sum of immediate and delayed word recall, serial seven subtraction test, counting backwards, range: 0-27) at baseline was 9.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: This study aims to assess the relationship between modifiable dementia risk factors and both dementia and cognitive decline.

Methods: Data were obtained from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) [2008-2020], the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) [2011-2020], and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) [2010-2020]. After adjusting for confounding factors, multivariable logistic regression was utilized to analyze the relationship between modifiable dementia risk factors and dementia, while multivariable linear regression was employed to examine the relationship between these risk factors and cognitive decline.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Chronic Kidney Disease Is Associated With Increased All-Cause Mortality Risk Among Older Black Adults.

Innov Aging

June 2024

Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, University of California, Los Angeles, California, USA.

Background And Objectives: Older patients diagnosed with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have a higher risk of all-cause mortality than the general population. However, there is limited information available on how CKD relates to all-cause mortality among Black adults in the United States. We aimed to investigate how CKD relates to all-cause mortality risk among older Black adults.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Although pandemic-era telemedicine flexibilities may have preserved access to care, concerns remain that telemedicine may have been inequitably distributed among older adults, especially those with mild cognitive impairment or dementia (MCID). As telemedicine flexibilities are set to fully expire on December 31, 2024, we aimed to examine pandemic-era and future-intended telemedicine use among older Americans to help inform post-pandemic telemedicine policy design. We hypothesized that telemedicine would be disproportionately underutilized among older adults with MCID or with racial and ethnic minority status.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, and hypertension are all widespread public health problems in middle-aged and older populations, and their association is controversial. The purpose of this study is to analyze the relationship between obesity, sarcopenia, and sarcopenic obesity with hypertension in a middle-aged and older community population in China through a large-scale longitudinal design.

Methods: In this cohort study with 7 years of follow-up, the study population was drawn from participants in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2011 and followed up in 2013, 2015, and 2018.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!