Are senescence and retirement inevitable features of old age? Does chronology rule my destiny? My patients have taught me many valuable lessons, but perhaps I wasn’t paying attention when they taught me the "indications" for retirement. I often remind patients that they need to do something meaningful after they retire. Many of my retired patients are quite content with their hobbies or tending to their grandchildren. Parenthetically, when I see patients who are new to the neighborhood, I can usually guess their motivation for moving. Young people move here for jobs, and older people move here to be closer to their grandchildren. Grandchildren are the tail that wags the dog for seniors.
A retired factory worker who gets bored sitting at home can take a part-time job driving a truck, or work as a greeter at Walmart, but that won’t cut it for a physician. It’s much harder for a doctor to come to grips with the end of a career than it is for other professionals. A thousand daily seductions beguile us into believing we are indispensable, but how can our lives remain meaningful, if our patients no longer need us? During our careers, patients clamor to see us, and they are petulant when we are not available. Smartly dressed drug reps line our hallways and wait patiently for a minute or two of our time. Like it or not, all of this attention goes to our heads. We may strive to act humbly, but we understand that we are very important in the lives of many people. We use our skills to heal, and that gratification, which is unique to the medical profession, is very addictive. I realize that the world will not stop turning if I am not there to refill prescriptions and give technical support for the human body, but how do doctors bow out gracefully?
For some doctors, retirement is a punishment, like solitary confinement. I remember one orthopedist who retired early, while I was knee deep with things to do at the office. Later I heard through the grapevine that he died young from cancer, so that curbed any feelings of jealousy I may have harbored. I’m not suggesting that if he had continued to work he could have dodged the bullet, but I’m suspicious that the secret of youth is acting the role. In my mind’s eye I picture the fearful spectacle of my retirement party. Other professionals get a golden watch for a retirement gift. A golden goniometer is more appropriate for a rheumatologist, but I’m deathly afraid to accept it. Don’t grab the scepter of purpose and meaning from my doddering old hands a minute sooner than you need to!
Another colleague is retiring to Arizona after many years of family practice. He’s planning on working 3 days a week in a friend’s practice. I think his concept of retirement is much healthier, and I wish him well. The way I see it, work is like prednisone: You have to taper off very slowly, and sometimes you have to stay on a little bit forever.
Dr. Greenbaum is a rheumatologist who practices in Greenwood, Ind. E-mail him at rhnews@elsevier.com.