How to find your way past the career you once loved
In the last post, Roberto Luongo's retirement was described as a good example of both internal and external factors that firmly contributed to "pushing" him out of his long career. For Luongo, these factors were obvious, objective and measurable, and perhaps even reflected a poi ...
On June 26, 2019, just months after his 40th birthday, Roberto Luongo announced his retirement after 19 stellar seasons as one of the NHL's all-time best goalies. He had gone into the off-season with an open mind about coming back. But when it was time, in May, to resume off-se ...
As outlined in the previous post, it wasn't long after I became an ex-MD before I became more focussed on trying to redefine my identity in this new stage of life. I was pleasantly surprised by how much I found to read on the topic--books, articles, and TED Talks that were provo ...
So, you have decided to cut the cord--you have resolved the important ambivalences around the decision to leave. You have set a date, you have sorted out where your mail will go, and you have found someone who will follow up with your patients. All the appropriate notifications- ...
Leaving a life in medicine can sound a little like smoking cessation. Whether at the beginning, or the end, of a career, there are really just three approaches: you can quit "cold turkey" (completely pull the plug); "wean down" (ease out by working part-time); or use "replacemen ...
In my previous post (part 1), I outlined some of the many reasons why doctors have become so deeply invested in their careers, even after just completing their training. Since this initial medical bonding process can span a decade or more, it is easy to see why physicians would ...
In my last post, I collected the essential principles that Roadburg's Life After Medicine book outlined--his strategy on how to plan for happiness and fulfillment after a medical career. However, as I read it for my own purposes, I found the approach overly simplistic; I had bee ...
In 2005, Alan Roadburg, PhD wrote, “Life after medicine: The secret to retirement happiness”, a guide endorsed by the Canadian Medical Association’s MD Financial group of companies, and subsequently shared with Canadian physicians nearing retirement. Written as an easy wee ...
After almost 10 years of accumulating pressures, seeded doubts and diminishing joy while working (see the previous post, "The seeds of retirement", Dec 11, 2018), I had become pessimistic that things could somehow improve--and increasingly disillusioned with my medical Faustian ...
I had always wondered when I was "supposed" to retire. Was it like contemplating when I am supposed to get married? Would I just know? The idea of retiring, at least as a viable alternative to career building, began in my 50s, when my financial advisors would routinely ...