Our vision is to support DoM faculty to transition toward and through retirement as a fundamental and rewarding part of the career arc of academic medicine.
Optimal career transition is both a result of, and a contributor to, overall well-being. We want to emphasize this duality and encourage transition/retirement to be viewed as a productive part of the life arc.
We want academic careers to end in a planned and successful way. This involves not just financial planning but also a planned and structured approach to reduction of activities. To make the transition successful in all domains, a strong sense of individual worth and identity that extend beyond the formal professional role is crucial. Developing and nurturing this sense of identity and worth is a career-long process that we intend to promote through wellness and mentoring initiatives.
Transition and retirement also have a time and purpose to ensure that the quality of patient care, research and teaching are maintained. This can be a sensitive issue in which transparency and fairness are key. Encouraging self-awareness and insight throughout the career arc can help mitigate these late career challenges.
We want the institutions we work within (hospital, department, and university) to have a fair and compassionate approach to our retirement that values not only our work and our legacy but also our financial and emotional well-being.
We want careers to transition and end in a way that facilitates renewal and innovation within our institutions, departments and divisions. By facilitating this renewal, the end of an academic career can be as meaningful as the start.
The goal of the Department of Medicine Late Career Transition Planning Document is to provide practical advice to faculty members to facilitate planning for the late career transition process and to support our late career faculty members (who are either contemplating or deciding to retire) in a respectful, thoughtful, and compassionate manner.
Hedden L. et al. Patterns of physician retirement and pre-retirement activity: a population-based cohort study Lindsay CMAJ December 11, 2017, 189 (49) E1517-E1523. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29229713/
Pannor Silver M, Easty LK. Planning for retirement from medicine: a mixed-methods study. CMAJ Open. 2017 Feb 13;5(1): E123-E129. doi: https://doi.org/10.9778/cmajo.20160133
Silver, M. Life after Medicine: A Systematic Review of Studies of Physicians' Adjustment to Retirement. Archives of Community Medicine and Public Health. 2016. 001-007. http://dx.doi.org/10.17352/2455-5479.000006
