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THE WONDERS
OF RETIREMENT

No regrets about decision
to retire

By Richard Thorner, MD

After several years of considering the oft-
asked question, “When are you going to re-
tire?” and finally becoming comfortable
with the concept, last summer I decided
that October 2014, just before a long-
planned, three-week trip to South Africa,
would be the beginning of the next stage in
my life’s journey.

I was about to turn 67 and though when
30 I expected to retire at the ripe old age
of 60, it didn’t feel right at that time. I have
been lucky to remain in good health and
always thought I walked through the hos-
pital with the same brisk step and confi-
dent outlook I had as a senior resident. I
do not know how the newer MDs (who
are younger than my kids!) see me — as I
see myself or as an “old physician” from
another era?

I took one week of vacation the first year
I was in practice, but now I was taking more
and more time off (I counted nine planned
weeks in 2014 plus long weekends as they
might occur) but never left without feeling
uneasy about what might happen to my pa-
tients in my absence. I was also becoming
more aware of the daily emotional toll we
accept as “part of the job.” I think most of
us downplay how different a clinician’s emo-
tional burden is from that which any other
professional is asked to assume. Those
stresses, handled by some better than others,
have unfortunately contributed to the dis-
ruption of many of our colleague’s profes-
sional and personal lives.

In addition, I was less than enamored of
the hospitals’ use of EHR (let alone the

22 San Antonio Medicine • September 2015