As a former senior partner of 20 years and a salaried doctor of 4 years, the conclusions of this rather interesting piece of research are no surprise. We are left with the overall impression of smug partners and embittered salaried GPs. My sympathies tend to be with the latter.
I know that my following plea is likely to fall on deaf ears, but I think it is worth making nevertheless. That is for those partners who are perhaps half a decade, or even a decade, away from retirement to make the brave step of changing directions. Perhaps it is time to voluntarily step down to a salaried position? Why not act as a grandparent to our younger colleagues? You know what I mean. To be happy to hold the baby while your sons/daughters are out shopping, but to be even happier handing him/her back at the end of the day for them to go through those sleepless nights. We are still there for advice, and are still going to be paid more than the vast majority of people in this country. We still have our savings, our paid-for house, our comfortable living. And now perhaps a chance to expand to do what we always wanted to do — hobbies or another field of medicine. What are you waiting for?
I know this because I did it. I have never regretted for a second that I left my well-established and increasingly successful practice. I enjoy watching it expand and I am pretty sure that I would have held it back if I had remained. We are still on friendly terms, and perhaps I retain a bit of a feeling that I had some part in its creation … but it now needs to grow-up. Meanwhile, I am learning and working in other areas of medicine that I never really knew existed, and meeting others in related professions whom I continue to learn from. This would never have happened had I stayed.
- © British Journal of General Practice, 2010.