Jobs For Retired Physicians

While many people look towards retirement as a golden period during which they can finally relax, that isn’t the case for everyone.

Some doctors just don’t find contentment in retirement, no matter what new hobby they pick up. And it makes sense, breaking up a job routine of 30-50 years is hard. Besides, reaching financial independence just means you get to choose how many patients you treat and which jobs you take on.

It’s why you’d find so many senior doctors looking up jobs that can keep them busy in their retirement.

Retired physicians are eligible for many jobs. We’ll discuss the most popular options and:

• Why some doctors choose to stay working
• What are the job options post retirement
• Why keeping busy is good for retired physicians

Working In Retirement: More Common Than You Think

You might think that working during retirement is an oxymoron, but it’s becoming more common among the medical fraternity.

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Medicine is such a hard field to crack into that most doctors are well into their late 30s before getting a true start to their careers. But that is also why physicians in the U.S. choose to retire later than any other profession, at 60-65 years versus the national standard of 60-62 years.

Sure, it can be for wealth accumulation purposes. Saving up is a chore in this economy, so a delayed retirement followed by a post-retirement job sounds appealing for anyone looking to pad up their finances. But that isn’t always the case.

Trying to slow down the momentum at that age should come naturally to us physicians. But it doesn’t. Studies show that a significant chunk of physicians like what they do, with 35% stating they’d like to work in medicine part-time after they retire.

There are many reasons for physicians to return from retirement or delay retirement. For many physicians, our identity is tied to our work. Retirement drastically changes our self-view and others’ views of us. Also, it is really hard to give up the skillsets we worked so hard to develop.

Going from Early Retirement to Recreationally Employed

I know many physicians who could not sustain their retirement. Many of them were so used to a life of impact that to suddenly come to a stop was too much for them.

Yes, they once dreamed of financial independence and early retirement that was meticulously planned. Years of disciplined saving, strategic investing, and careful financial planning should have culminated in a life where the daily grind of medicine is replaced by the freedom to pursue passions.

But what happens after the initial euphoria of retirement subsides? How much tennis, pickle ball and golf can you play? Many of my friends who retired from medicine complained of a feeling that their brains were turning to “mush” as a result of the sudden loss of intellectual work that they did as physicians.

Enter the concept of “Financial Independence, Recreational Employment.” This approach involves returning to work, not out of financial necessity, but for personal fulfillment.

It’s about trading the intense demands of a full-time medical career for a more relaxed, flexible, and enjoyable work environment of your choosing. Many physicians call these new jobs “encore” careers.

Perhaps it’s a part-time role in a medical spa, a few hours a week consulting for a startup, or teaching at a medical school. The key is that the work is chosen for pleasure, not profit. It’s a way to stay engaged, maintain cognitive acuity, and contribute to the field while enjoying the benefits of financial independence.

For physicians, this model offers a unique opportunity to leverage their expertise while maintaining control over their time. It’s a chance to give back to the medical community, mentor younger physicians, or simply enjoy the intellectual stimulation of continuing to practice medicine without the same level of pressure.

Of course, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. Some physicians may find complete retirement to be perfectly fulfilling. But for those seeking a balance between leisure and engagement, the FIRE, recreational employment model offers a compelling alternative.

It’s about finding a new chapter that aligns with your passions, values, and lifestyle. After all, retirement should be a time of rejuvenation, not stagnation.

Jobs To Get You Back In The Field

Luckily, the job market after retirement isn’t as bleak as you’d imagine, especially for qualified physicians. Here are just a few career options for you to transition into.

Healthcare Administration

This is an obvious one. Years of experience in being a doctor and dealing with patients makes senior physicians the perfect candidates to work in hospital administration.

Hospital administrators are the liaisons between patients and their doctors. They take care of things behind the scenes, making sure a healthcare facility is running at its optimum without donning the surgical scrubs themselves.

Instead, they are there to recruit the surgeons, nurses, and staff and manage the programs that deal with patient care.

While the profession is on the rise, it does help to have a background in business via degrees such as health administration, hospital management or business studies.

Telemedicine

Telemedicine was always a thing but I don’t think people realized how big it could be until the pandemic happened.

With communities that can find it harder to access medical care for various reasons such as distance, conflict, and more, telemedicine has become a saving grace.

But it also benefits physicians, specifically senior doctors who want to continue practicing but might face issues like chronic illness or disabilities that might keep them from moving too frequently.

Telemedicine has become very popular due to its easy accessibility. To conduct virtual consultations, you just need a computer, a good internet connection, and some tech savvy.

Locum Tenens Doctor

Locum Tenens is just a fancier term for ‘substitute doctor.’

If you’re planning on keeping that active practicing license, becoming a Locum Tenens doctor is a good option. You would be taken upon by a staffing agency, who will place you to cover duties for doctors who are on leave or absent.

This substitute period can last a day or even a month and all living and travel arrangements are (usually) taken care of by the agency.

Locum Tenens means you get to work as a doctor without having to commit full term. And it’s this adaptability that makes it so appealing to retired physicians who want to keep their skills sharp while still being relatively relaxed.

Teaching

After long years of practice, you’ve garnered a fountain of knowledge. What better way to spend your golden years than dispensing that wisdom to young aspirants?

Retired physicians can become educators, whether teaching clinical science, such as physiology, at an undergrad level or even as preceptors for training programs such as nursing and physician assistants.

Many physicians have successfully achieved encore careers by entering academic medicine and teaching medical students and residents. However, keep in mind that the qualifications needed for that could vary across the country.

Physician Consultant

The best thing about becoming a consultant is that it isn’t only limited to hospital work.

Consultants are specialized physicians who are employed when guidance is needed from a medical point of view. So, this would mean consulting on medical cases, yes. But companies might also hire you to help add to hospital facilities or even to help create new medical devices.

A physician consultant performs many tasks ranging from hospital and/or organization administration, policy input, industry relations, subject matter expertise, healthcare delivery, etc.

The job’s flexibility of hours and the option of working for government organizations such as Social Security for medical claims make it an attractive option to retired physicians. You get to use your experience in medicine to make realistic and relevant organizational decisions.

Hospitalist

If you don’t want the bureaucracy of administration but still want to work in a hospital and treat patients on your own time, then being a hospitalist might be up your alley.

Although most hospitalist groups look for full-time physicians, many also look for PRN or as-needed work, where you can work one week a month or fill in the schedule on the weekends.

Hospitalists specialize in the care of hospitalized patients, helping speed up processes for their care and generally streamlining the admissions and discharge process. Though it isn’t necessary, having some experience in Internal Medicine certainly helps when working as a hospitalist.

The career might sound new but it’s been around for a while, with more than 70% of all U.S. hospitals currently employing a hospitalist.

Maintaining Your Board Certification

For many of the above jobs, patient care is involved which means that your board certification status plays a role.

Many physicians do not realize that as we approach retirement, we may have to plan for an “encore” career. If you need to reenter the health delivery market, do not forget that board certification and maintenance of certification are necessary.

Do not allow your credentialing to lapse, as it will severely limit your options. These days, it is very difficult to be employed in patient care without being board certified.

Final Thoughts

Honestly, no one should have to work after retirement. That’s supposed to be the entire point. But you never know where life could end up, leading you to sustain yourself and your loved ones even after retiring.

Or maybe you’re just not the kind of person to sit idle for too long and actively want to give back to the community, however way possible.

Either way, working after retirement is a completely normal process and just might work better for you than whatever yoga retreat you were looking up before. It also serves as an admirable means of cognitive stimulation, and intellectual maintenance.

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