Some psychological and emotional aspects of retirement in physicians: a first approach

Retirement is a time of life marked by many social prejudices. However, links of retirement to depression do not have any scientific evidence. Retired physicians do not suffer more psychiatric disorders than those who continue working. It is worth pointing that retirement is part of the decline of life, so no wonder the fear and rejection generated. Retirement can also be seen as a rite of passage or transition. Rites of passage are events that mark the most important transitions in human life, such as birth, initiation into adulthood, marriage and death. In the medical profession, the end of high school, obtaining professional qualifications and completion of a specialty, mark the different stages of the physician's career. Most research that has studied the quality of life of retired physicians agrees that most doctors are satisfied with their new condition. Similarly, retired doctors who said they were dissatisfied with their new situation, this was not because they had left the profession, but because they were in poor health or had no family or economic stability. The present study aims at providing an overview of occupational retirement from the individual and ontological point of view.