Retirement careers

[Monkey.King]

What kind of careers if any do doctors go into when they decide to retire from medicine? Do they just retire from the work force completely or do less demanding work? No matter what kind of career I have in the future whether it's being a doctor or not, I always wanted to go into politics at around age 45-50.

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[binko]

I know one who got sick of medicine, became a psychological counselor, then got sick of that and went back to medicine.

 

[CyrilFiggis]

[4 years of undergrad + 4 years of med school + 4 years (on average) of residency] + 18 (age you start undergrad) = 30.

So you will have spent 12 years training to become a doctor. Then you'll work 15 years as a doctor and leave to become a politician....

To each their own, but pursuing a career where you only plan on getting one year or work per year of training sounds wasteful. If you want the experience to inform your political aspirations, get an MS or MPH and start your political career sooner as save yourself the time and money.

But to address your question, many go into administration, academic medicine, research or corporate america after leaving their practice.

 

[LizzyM]

The number of physicians serving in Congress has risen over the past decade. If that floats your boat, go for it. Just know that working the phones and asking for money is a big part of serving in Congress these days. It might make dealing with third party payers seem attractive by comparison.

 

[gyngyn]

We can't get anyone to retire, even when they can no longer see, hear or ambulate without assistance!

 

[Catalystik]

An ENT in my community retired in his 40s and became a professional bridge player.

 

[Toutie]

We can't get anyone to retire, even when they can no longer see, hear or ambulate without assistance!

Gotta build up those UC retirement $$$.

 

[jtd2081]

Golf.

 

[Pagan FutureDoc]

Doctors retire? Most I know work some as long as they are physically able (some even longer than that)

 

[Versadth]

Thinking of retirement? I'm thinking of a backup plan if I don't get into medicine!

 

[eteshoe]

I'm probably not gonna retire. It's just not in me (too much of a workaholic and I love it). I'll continue practicing until I no longer am physically able to (most likely working less hrs as I get older). I'd probably shift to pure research (and consulting) at that point. I know a PI who still has an active research program at 75.

 

[doctorleospaceman]

Doctor's don't retire. They either go into academics or maybe cut down on hours a little bit.

 

[Goro]

Join the faculty at a medical school! I have several colleagues who have done this.

What kind of careers if any do doctors go into when they decide to retire from medicine? Do they just retire from the work force completely or do less demanding work? No matter what kind of career I have in the future whether it's being a doctor or not, I always wanted to go into politics at around age 45-50.

 

[Monkey.King]

Thinking of retirement? I'm thinking of a backup plan if I don't get into medicine!

Well I did say I planned on becoming a politician regardless of what career I have. It's something I always wanted to do, but not at an early age.

 

[Law2Doc]

What kind of careers if any do doctors go into when they decide to retire from medicine? Do they just retire from the work force completely or do less demanding work? No matter what kind of career I have in the future whether it's being a doctor or not, I always wanted to go into politics at around age 45-50.

Your premise is bad -- As mentioned, extremely few doctors retire young enough to do anything else these days, in part because the training is so long and in part because the country is a more expensive place to live, a volatile economy periodically wipes out doctors' retirement funds, people have kids (and thus dependents) much later in life these days, and sending their kids to college has become more expensive than fathomable. Nobody I've ever met along this path is ready to retire at 45 -- a lot of doctors are just starting to feel comfortable with their role/job then. It's just not done -- retiring young hasn't been common since the 1980s. The average age of retirement for doctors has now moved well into their 60s, and people pushing it into their mid to late 70s is not uncommon.

But in terms of what people might do, some phase out to more part time roles, some teach, and some golf, fish, sail, travel or otherwise try to enjoy their golden years. Going off to become a politician at 45-50 is rare in part because you forego as much as two decades of doctors income, and in part because you are trading a role most doctors actually enjoy for a role most really would not. The guy who enjoys working with patients is not the guy who would enjoy campaigning, reading proposed bills, or attending legislative mark-up meetings. The transition from law is much more natural which is why most politicians come from that field. If you think politics would be a good career at 45 you might want to think long and hard about whether doctoring is the right first step because they don't dovetail nicely. There's a reason there are only a few prominent former doctors in politics and most are well over 45 and many didn't really enjoy their time in medicine.