Sept. 20, 2026

Retirement isn't the end of medicine, it's a second act

Many doctors picture themselves practicing until the day they die. Andrea Hayes decided otherwise, and tells you what came next. She is a retired endocrinologist, author, and speaker. This episode is based on her article "From endocrinologist to writer: a doctor's second act," published on KevinMD. You will hear how 30 years in practice, 25 of them independent and five in concierge medicine, ended without a single dramatic exit. She describes the office manager who stole a quarter of a million dollars while she was grieving her father, and how that betrayal pushed her to learn the business side she had ignored. She explains why she now tells physicians to build a plan B, a plan C, and a plan D, and what she found out about publishing after traditional publishers turned her down. She also explains how living with type 1 diabetes since age 15 shaped how she connected with patients. Stay to the end for her case that it is never too late to become someone you did not expect to be.

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