ABOUT ME

After being a physician for 40 years, I knew the time had come for me to retire. It was unquestionably the most significant and emotionally arduous decision that I made in my career as a physician. Having learned about the sometimes-tragic retirements of others in our profession, I chose to read extensively to research this topic to avoid the loss of professional identity, purpose, and meaning that seemed to occur with alarming frequency when physicians retired.

Despite my knowledge of the potential negative consequences of physician retirement and my proactive efforts to avoid them, I experienced, rather unexpectedly, a professional identity crisis, which worsened into an existential crisis. I felt worthless. I was lost and adrift in a sea of loss and grief, as I questioned my very existence. Knowledge, without support and structure to build a new life, was simply not enough.

I chose to make a change in trajectory and decided to pursue rigorous training as a physician coach, and along with engaging a physician coach for myself, I completed a successful journey into retirement and beyond to the next chapter of my life. I now have a new identity and a renewed sense of professional fulfillment. This process changed my life. Consequently, I developed the Physician Retirement Emotional Preparedness Program (PREPP), incorporating all that I have learned during my own journey, to assist other physicians in embracing the next chapter in their lives with clarity, confidence, and control.