How to Prepare for Your End of Career

Transition Toward Renewal

Sierra Nevada - 2019

When to Begin, What to Do

As you approach your End of Career Transition, you will likely have numerous thoughts and feelings. They will probably range from joyful anticipation to concern and persistent preoccupation about how to properly prepare.

Training and Experience: Yours and Mine

As a physician, I can appreciate the feeling of satisfaction that results from extensive training that truly prepares us to practice our profession. The years of daily experiences prepares us with scientific knowledge as we apply it with a healthy dose of sound, clinical judgement.

But now, as you approach an event we all experience…whether as a physician or other professional, you will find that the kind of preparation that you are familiar with and value, has not been readily available.

The Unexpected and the Unknown

That was what I faced when my Plastic Surgery career ended unexpectedly years ago. It happened as a result of unexpected health problems.  For some years now, I am thankfully happy, healthy and well!

At the time, I understood that however capable I was at matters of leadership, management and business matters, I needed help. I understood that the challenge I faced was enormous in scope and complexity. The lack of preparation due to an unexpected illness added another dimension to the challenge we commonly face.

I knew that I needed professional help from someone who had experience in the various areas that comprised the spectrum of medical practice. They include the very nature of how this major life Transition affects you personally, the professional impact, administrative and business matters, real estate issues as well as medical legal matters that require careful attention.

I searched, but the resources I found were limited in scope.  In my opinion, they would not fulfill the requirements of the challenge. So, I resolved to lead myself through that epoch of my life with specific professional help.

The Ending and a New Beginning

I can attest that I did succeed at my End of Career Transition. However, it was very expensive in terms of effort, stress, time, cost and experiences that I prefer to leave behind. 

What I did not leave behind was my purpose in life…to improve the human condition. I continued, then and now, to feel a deep desire to do so.

Throughout my career, I have had significant leadership, mentoring and teaching roles that prepared me for what was to come.

My colleagues witnessed by successes and began asking me to guide them. As I did so, it reinforced just how much this type of consulting/coaching is needed…and how transformative it is for those who benefit from it.

So it was that the end of my career marked a new beginning. One that has developed into a new career through which I fulfill Who I am as well as my Why in life. It is only What I do that has changed.

About Preparation…

The purpose of this article is to present valuable, actionable information to you. Nevertheless, what I am about to discuss will be much more valuable to you by having provided a real-life context that you can relate to.

There are various areas that are critical to prepare for that I have mentioned above.

It is my experience that colleagues understandably tend to focus on the business and other matters that are really not personal in nature. There is a significant tendency to underestimate how this major life event can affect you personally and professionally. Other matters are very important, but none as essential as when and how you begin to prepare yourself successfully. 

Whether you are in solo practice, a partner in a group, or are otherwise employed, when the end date becomes a reality, you will be left with yourself as the sole focus of your End of Career Transition. The purpose of this Transition is for you to live a life replete with renewal and fulfillment.

 Action Items

The “to do list” is extensive. Listed below are major matters about your personal and professional preparations that are interrelated. Please consider these a sample of major topics under which numerous subtopics exist:

• When to begin to prepare?
• What to prepare for?
• Early feasible preparations.
• How and when to create a Post Career Holistic Lifestyle Plan?
• How and when to create an End of Career Transition Plan? Timing of execution?
• How and when to create a Post Career Financial Plan? Benefits?
• Succession planning or close your practice?
• Leave group practice or employment?
• Where to live? Taxes?
• Voluntary or involuntary residency status.
• Real estate: personal, office.
• Insurance policies: medical liability, personal disability, health.

And much, much more.

Recognize the Challenge and Make Time an Asset

I can assure you that with a clear awareness of what you will have to deal with, at the same time that you are still in practice, you can lead yourself, your family and staff effectively. This is achievable, provided that you create and execute your plans well in advance. How early?

For most physicians that are in a solo practice that they plan to close, a group practice or are otherwise employed, the minimum preparation time should be three years. If you are in a solo, private practice and plan to sell it, a minimum of five years is advisable. 

What should the sequence of the preparation of plans be? It is:

1. Post Career Holistic Lifestyle Plan _TM

2. Post Career Financial Plan _TM

3. End of Career Transition Plan _TM

You have before you a brief, yet descriptive blueprint for how to proceed to create your End of Career Transition. Please remember that it is a process, not an event, the purpose of which is renewal and fulfillment. That is, for you to envision and create a lifestyle that you have earned and is well-deserved.

My best wishes to you and your family!

 PS: By the way, do you want to learn more from me about how to create and experience a fulfilling End of Career Transition and life beyond? I would like to help you. I provide consulting services that are tailored to your specific needs. Click here to apply for a complimentary consultation.

Grand Sunset and the Teton Range

Grand Teton National Park, WY - 2008