My thoughts wandered back to my first year in college, afflicted with infectious mononucleosis during my first semester. After spending 3 days in a University infirmary, my dad flew me back to NYC for a second opinion with his company doctor. “So you’re majoring in political science. You know there’s not a real world job out there,” declared Dr. Sussman behind his mahogany desk on Park Avenue. “You should try for medicine,” he counseled. Fifty years later, mentally replete with the teachings of Hans Krebs, Bert Vogelstein, Sidney Winawer and a host of others, I walked out of the endoscopy center, bid adieu to colleagues, staff and my endoscopes and entered the world of the “retired doc.” Now what? Travel the world, sleep in and watch “Get Smart” reruns, volunteer in indigent clinics, hangout in hospital dining rooms and talk about the good old days? Turning to the internet, I found a plethora of sites advising me on finances, providing lists of post-doc duties but no voices of the retired physician community describing the journey of the medical retiree. In this blog, I hope to stimulate discussion of meaningful and whimsical topics of value to the retired physician community. Let’s go!
Navigating Life Choices after Medicine