I’ve entered the 3rd year of so called “retirement”. While folks are typically warned about a variety of matters as they move toward retirement such as the need to maintain or find social enrichment, intellectual stimulation, and adequate financial security there is one area that receives minimal if any attention.
This is the retirement of the significant health care providers in one’s life such as the family physician, medical specialists and dentists, especially when such relationships can span 10, 15 or 20+ years in duration. We come to see that they retire just like everyone else and when they do we are required to deal with the “grief”, no matter how small that often accompanies the ending of a primary relationship. The doctor-patient relationship is of such importance that it’s the subject of scholarly research and is taught (hopefully) in medical and dental schools. When such retirement occurs one loses a dependable relationship, often concerning matters of life and death and are faced with the challenge of forming a new one from scratch.
In the past year my dentist and family physician retired after many years of providing me with service and today I learned that my cardiologist, who I’ve seen for 17 years is retiring in a couple of months. In all three cases there has been a very positive relationship that was abruptly ended without the possibility of any future ongoing contact. In describing them to others I would often say “I love” so and so. Of course I didn’t mean romantically. Fortunately, I’m fairly healthy so compared to others I’ve fewer doctor-patient relationships that end and must be begun anew. And by the time one retires one hopefully has the skill set to address such terminations with minimal stress but still, it’s an unexpected challenge that one doesn’t often, if ever consider.
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This is the retirement of the significant health care providers in one’s life such as the family physician, medical specialists and dentists, especially when such relationships can span 10, 15 or 20+ years in duration. We come to see that they retire just like everyone else and when they do we are required to deal with the “grief”, no matter how small that often accompanies the ending of a primary relationship. The doctor-patient relationship is of such importance that it’s the subject of scholarly research and is taught (hopefully) in medical and dental schools. When such retirement occurs one loses a dependable relationship, often concerning matters of life and death and are faced with the challenge of forming a new one from scratch.
In the past year my dentist and family physician retired after many years of providing me with service and today I learned that my cardiologist, who I’ve seen for 17 years is retiring in a couple of months. In all three cases there has been a very positive relationship that was abruptly ended without the possibility of any future ongoing contact. In describing them to others I would often say “I love” so and so. Of course I didn’t mean romantically. Fortunately, I’m fairly healthy so compared to others I’ve fewer doctor-patient relationships that end and must be begun anew. And by the time one retires one hopefully has the skill set to address such terminations with minimal stress but still, it’s an unexpected challenge that one doesn’t often, if ever consider.
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