NEXT: Flourishing in the New World of Physician Retirement
Also available as Kindle
This title is available for pre-order now. Your copy will ship on October 23, 2026.
"I do not want to do what I have done for the last 30 years, but I am in no way done!"
Physician retirement is no longer a single event tied to a birthday — it's a process, and for many physicians, an unsettling one. In NEXT: Flourishing in the New World of Physician Retirement, Charles R. Stoner, DBA, and Thomas M. Waits, MD, MBA, draw on decades of coaching, clinical experience, and original research to help physicians navigate uncertainty, confront "the void," and build a retirement defined by purpose rather than absence. Practical tools. Real physician voices. A path forward.
Read more Read less
For generations, physician retirement meant a fixed date, a farewell party, and an abrupt end to decades of identity built around medicine. That model no longer fits. Today, retirement is a process — often unfolding over years — and many physicians find themselves navigating it without a map.
In NEXT: Flourishing in the New World of Physician Retirement, the authors — an organizational behavior scholar and executive coach paired with a recently retired oncologist — confront three problems physicians consistently face: uncertainty about when and how to transition, the disorienting "void" that so often follows retirement, and the absence of a plan for continued relevance and purpose.
Drawing on more than a year of research, secondary studies, and candid interviews with physicians at every stage of the retirement journey, Stoner and Waits offer more than encouragement — they offer a developmental pathway. Readers will find frameworks for self-assessment, real case examples, and practical models for building a next chapter that reflects their own energy, health, and sense of purpose.
Written for physicians contemplating retirement — typically those in their mid-50s through early 70s — as well as for physician leaders supporting peers through this transition, NEXT moves beyond generic retirement advice to address what makes the physician experience distinct: an identity forged over decades of training and practice, and a transition that deserves the same intentionality physicians have brought to every other stage of their careers.
This is not a book about stepping away. It's a book about what comes next.
Inside, you will find:
- A clear-eyed look at why so many physicians are reconsidering the traditional retirement timeline.
- Tools for assessing your own readiness, satisfaction, and burnout.
- Strategies for navigating "the void" that so often follows retirement.
- A framework for discovering flow, purpose, and flourishing in your next stage.
- Real, candid stories from physicians who have lived this transition.
- A practical, personalized action model for putting it all together.
Retirement, for physicians, doesn't have to mean stepping away from meaning. It can mean stepping into it.
About the author
Charles R. (Chuck) Stoner, DBA, is professor emeritus of management and leadership at Bradley University and president of Stoner & Associates Consulting. His work over the past decade has focused on healthcare organizations and physician leadership, including coaching relationships with nearly 300 physicians from institutions such as Indiana University Health, OSF Healthcare, and UT MD Anderson. He has authored 14 books, including AAPL's Inspired Physician Leadership and Working with Distressed Physicians, and holds an MBA and doctorate from Florida State University.
Thomas M. Waits, MD, MBA, completed 31 years of practice as an oncologist in 2024, working across physician-owned, multispecialty, and hospital-owned settings, and developing rural outreach clinics in two states. He has also served as a hospice director and currently works as an oncology case reviewer. He earned his medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine, completed his residency at Wake Forest University and fellowship at Vanderbilt University, and holds an MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.
Contents
- About the Authors
- Preface
- PART 1: THE LANDSCAPE
- Chapter 1. Stepping Away: Why So Many Physicians Consider Leaving
- Process, Not Event
- A Shorter Stint
- Driving Forces for Leaving
- A Subtle Perspective
- A Caveat and Perspective
- Chapter Summary
- Previews of Coming Attractions
- Personal Journal
- Chapter 2. Options: A Jagged New Sense of Normal
- The Retirement Generation
- New Views on Retirement and Early Retirement
- The Process of Retirement
- Chapter Summary
- Personal Journal
- Chapter 3. It's Personal: Psychological and Emotional Markers
- The Psychology of Retirement
- Potential Gains — Escape and Opportunity
- Chapter Summary
- Personal Journal
- Chapter 4. Transitions: The Nature of Personal Change
- Retirement as a Transition
- The Dynamics of Personal Change
- Productive Responses to Change
- An Additional Consideration
- Chapter Summary
- Personal Journal
- PART 2: THE PLAN
- Chapter 5. Timing: Is It Time to Leave?
- The Greener Grass Caveat
- An Incremental Journey
- Meaning and Balance: The Domains of Life
- Perspective
- Chapter Summary
- Personal Journal
- Chapter 6. Flourish: Thriving in Your Next Stage
- Thriving
- Flourishing
- Authenticity
- Chapter Summary
- Personal Journal
- Chapter 7. Reaching Ahead: Finding Your Flow and Purpose
- The Search for Significance
- Find Your Flow
- Understanding Your Purpose(s)
- Talent Assessment
- Understanding What You Dislike
- Limiting Factors
- Personal Applications: What Are You Becoming?
- Chapter Summary
- Personal Journal
- Chapter 8. Action: Putting It All Together
- The Model
- Chapter Summary
- Personal Journal
- Chapter 9. Coda: Questions and Replies
- Perspective
- Commonly Asked Questions
- Chapter Summary
- Personal Journal
- References
