What should my doctor mom do after she retires?

June 28, 2023 12:40 PM

My mother is an internal medicine physician who is planning to retire next year. She's feeling a bit nervous about the prospect of going from 60 to 0, and is looking for ideas for ways she can spend her time in retirement — ideally in ways where her medical training and experience working with her (Mandarin-speaking) community can still be useful. I know she'll be happier if she feels like she's retiring "to" something, not "from" something. Looking for anecdotes about what other doctors have done in retirement (from doctors, their families, or friends).
posted by svolix to Work & Money (16 answers total)

My grandparents are RNs, not doctors, but they have invested a substantial amount of time during their retirement volunteering at a free medical clinic that primarily serves recent immigrants/refugees in their local area. They were able to set reasonable limitations around their time commitments but also keep their skills sharp and give back in a way that honored the talent they had developed over such long careers.
posted by neutralhydrogen at 12:47 PM on June 28, 2023 [21 favorites]

My father-in-law consulted for an insurance company.
posted by kevinbelt at 1:06 PM on June 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

One relative of mine is volunteering as a hospital translator. Your mom sounds well positioned to do that and act as an advocate for patients.
posted by cocoagirl at 1:25 PM on June 28, 2023 [15 favorites]

A doctor I know is planning to start a business helping patients navigate the medical system, e.g., working with multiple health care providers, keeping track of various health conditions, etc.
posted by FencingGal at 1:42 PM on June 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

An acquaintance went to work on ships as the ship's Doctor. Granted, he liked sailing around, which might be a prerequisite.
posted by From Bklyn at 2:47 PM on June 28, 2023 [2 favorites]

Remote Area Medical is good stuff - free clinics in underserved areas. This would be an irregular commitment and I'm not sure about the licensure / etc. needs, though. They do great work - I have volunteered as general support for them.
posted by quadrilaterals at 3:07 PM on June 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

One neat thing about being a doctor is how nicely it often transitions into part-time work. She really doesn't have to go from 60 to 0 all at once if she doesn't want to! She can totally pursue a much more organic, gradual route into retirement.

Hospital translator and patient advocate sounds very fulfilling, but dang, that ought to be a paying job, not a volunteer role. Depressing to think that's something being done just out of the goodness of someone's heart.

If she's looking for adventure she could do some placements with MSF or a similar organization.
posted by potrzebie at 5:36 PM on June 28, 2023 [5 favorites]

Most of the doctors I trained under did a sort of "slow fade," where they gave up the parts of their career they disliked (administrative burden) and focused on the things they did (research, precepting residents, volunteering at a free clinic). Note that if she continues any sort of clinical work, she probably will have to maintain at least a limited license/deal with malpractice insurance.

I know others who flipped to a creative hobby-career that had been suppressed during their working life. One person I know is now an award-winning artist, and my former pediatrician just published her memoir. (There is no shortage of doctor memoirs, though.)
posted by basalganglia at 6:21 PM on June 28, 2023 [3 favorites]

Not quite the same, but my vasectomist took an extended child-rearing break from doctoring and then felt the field had moved on too far for her to catch up. So she set up a niche snippetty-doo-dah clinic working as long each day as she wanted and was happy and fulfilled.
posted by BobTheScientist at 2:08 AM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

The medical people in my life have all transitioned to per-diem doctoring. Work as much or as little as you want! Plus, yeah, aggressive pursuit of hobbies like music or gardening.
posted by Ollie at 2:53 AM on June 29, 2023

My doctor father and nurse stepmother retired to: Volunteering for Remote Area Medical, volunteering at free clinics that care for undocumented folks, volunteering to teach their internal medicine specialty at a VA hospital, and serving on medical mission trips to Haiti. My dad is 82 and still enjoying doing all of those (except Haiti because it's no longer safe). Speaking of Haiti, he also got together with other doctor friends and paid for a couple of Haitians to attend medical school in Haiti and stay to serve their local populations.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 4:49 AM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

My doctor friend put more energy into his photography hobby but also volunteers once a week at a free clinic for immigrants where he uses his speciality (Orthopedic something or other).
posted by bluesky78987 at 7:44 AM on June 29, 2023

All senior homes need some help besides the typical daily stuff, IMHO.
posted by kschang at 3:31 PM on June 29, 2023

A doctor friend of mine, upon retiring as a GP, started working at a clinic serving street-involved Indigenous folks (who often suffer from systemic racism in health care). He also spent a lot of time volunteering with this population, educating himself on Indigenous issues and reading up on anti racism. He found it very fulfilling and was a valued member of their staff until his full retirement at the age of, I think, 75.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 6:38 PM on June 29, 2023

If she's interested in helping sick prisoners who get substandard medical care while incarcerated, care that often kills them if no one intervenes, message me. I can send you the info for an organization that works with volunteer doctors who review prisoner medical records and write reports about all the malpractice they find, in hopes of getting the prisoners proper care, or getting them released if they're dying so that they can get proper palliative care.
posted by decathecting at 1:34 PM on July 1, 2023

Friend's parent trains residents (full time, if that gives you an idea of how not-retired she is), teaches online classes (same).

I've volunteered with docs, vets, and nurses through my US county's MRC (medical reserve corps) - we do a lot of free vaccination clinics (back to school and then covid) and work shifts at fairs, races (of all sorts including canoe), anywhere people are likely to receive minor injury, also support people living without housing with vet (animal) visits, (human) exams, etc, as part of a large local event. Think street medics you may have seen at protests, but make them stationary (medical tents), retirees, single people, and anyone with with time. Mrc handles insurance.
posted by esoteric things at 8:20 PM on July 3, 2023