Pulse
Upshifting
Physicians who haven't slowed down in retirement.
Whoever said retirement has to mean putting away your white coat? Who says it has to involve improving your chip shot rather than improving patients’ lives?
For many physicians, retirement is no longer the abrupt end of the career path. It’s more often a fork in a route that leads to new, meaningful work.
Researchers from the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, recently analyzed data from the American Medical Association that indicated that many physicians who expect to retire plan to continue to work in some capacity. But work doesn’t have to mean adhering to a strict schedule or putting up with the hassles that go along with running a medical practice. For a number of physicians, retirement is a time to let go of the day to day and get back to feeling the joy of knowing they’re helping people in some way.
The following are five stories of physicians who experience such satisfaction by inventing life-changing
medical devices, helping develop the health care system in an African country, filling in at clinics with a shortage of physicians, becoming a master of medical information on the Internet, and encouraging other retired physicians and nurses to comfort hospitalized patients.
At age 82, Kurt Amplatz is still thinking up new devices that eliminate the need for surgery.
Martha and Johannes Aas, an industrious duo from Duluth, are remaking a health care system in Africa.
Ken Berge has found a way to stay on the cutting edge of both medicine and technology.
Working locum tenens enables John Salchert to do what he loves—connect with patients—and avoid the hassles of running a practice.
James Gaviser is bringing retired physicians and nurses back to the bedside to comfort patients.