by Balliett Financial Services, Inc.
If you're nearing retirement age, or if you retired not so terribly long ago, consider this: Medical advances combined with a better understanding of the effect of lifestyle choices on the aging process may mean that you can look forward to many productive years after retirement. Much of the medical research under way is focusing not simply on adding years to our lives but on adding life to our years. Advanced age won't necessarily mean living our final years enfeebled and bedridden. While that's positive news, it also raises some important new questions that we will all need to answer. The most pressing:
What are we going to do with the rest of our lives? Some of the retired doctors Gene and I have known over the years thought they had the answer to that question before they retired but lived to believe they were mistaken. I'll illustrate with a true-to-life composite picture drawn from our relationships with doctor-clients since 1967:
Dr. Fred Miller worked 12-hour days, six days a week. He did so for nearly 30 years at his busy and stressful solo medical practice. At age 62, he packed it in. He told friends he'd sold his practice, but the price was equal to the fair value of his two-physician office building. He bought a new set of golf clubs, and he and his wife moved to Florida. He was healthy, fit, financially secure, and living the kind of retirement that his doctor-colleagues back home could only dream about. Malpractice attorneys didn't exist, unqualified snoops were a distant memory, and his most stressful decision of the day involved scheduling tee times for his favorite foursome. At the beginning, retirement life was just swell.
In only six months, Fred Miller was climbing the walls. It wasn't that he missed the daily grind of a busy medical practice, but something important was definitely missing from his life. He had come to realize that, despite the hard work, the long hours, and the aggravations of his life before retirement, there had been compensating rewards. One day, in an unscheduled visit to our offices, he confided to us that retirement had become merely an opportunity to begin drinking earlier in the day. He had seen that sad situation before he retired, but he never thought he'd eventually be caught up in it. He said it had never occurred to him how satisfying it had been to get out of bed each morning with someplace to go and something important to do. Our composite Dr. Miller is a big part of the reason for this late development:
Support groups are springing up all across the country. Their mission is to help physicians make the transition into retirement. Harold Boehning, M.D., heads up one of those groups in Dallas. (He's not a composite; he's real, as are the others I'm about to mention). Boehning is a retired anesthesiologist. He says that for many doctors the change is overwhelming. "Too many doctors approach retirement with unrealistic expectations," Dr. Boehning told us. "They look forward to a life of leisure as a reward for their hard work, but when the time comes they just aren't ready to let go of their active lifestyles."
Longevity, too, is something you need to consider. The need for a realistic game plan for the so-called golden years is underscored by the fact that life expectancy just may move higher because of biogenetics, stem-cell research, new medical procedures, and who knows what else. Longer lives are all but certain to create serious emotional implications, as well as financial. The yardstick traditionally (and currently) used by most financial planners in mapping out retirement security for their clients is to find a way to stretch their resources for only 20 years after reaching age 65. Planning to die broke at age 85 could be a tragically flawed strategy for those who live longer. Here are snapshots of what's covered in this chapter: www.napfa.org (1-800 366-2732).
More are living beyond what is still considered the norm. Those who run out of retirement funds at, say, age 85, may well find themselves with at least 5, 10, or 15 years of life remaining after their savings are depleted. Five years from now, those figures may seem laughably understated. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census, at birth the average American male born in 1950 had a life expectancy of just 66 years. Today, a Baby Boomer who makes it to 83, as traditionally expected, will then be able to look forward to still another 7.9 years.
Suddenly, a life span of 90 to 100 doesn't seem farfetched Indeed, the U.S. Commerce Department predicted in 2000 that Americans over age 85 will be the fastest-growing segment of the nation's population through 2020. In1970, 14% of Americans were over the age of 60. But by 2030: probably 25%.
The social and financial implications are staggering. America is a land of spenders, not savers. Even at its beginning, Social Security was meant to make it possible for old people to live indoors, not to serve them as a substitute for saving, investing, and thinking. Even now, Medicare and Medicaid are increasingly being seen as failed programs. MSAs (medical savings accounts) are seen in some circles as the salvation. We view them as only part of the solution. Also, we see a need for new and vastly improved and expanded public health-care program for those unable or unwilling to underwrite their MSA or to pay the going rate for private medical and dental services provided by traditional practitioners.
Life insurance policies mature at 100, except for those lapsed sooner. Major corporations are increasingly nearing default on their defined-benefit pension benefits. Since 1990, smaller employers have increasingly dropped or cut back on their defined-contribution retirement benefits. No longer an agrarian and small-town society, many of our families are geographically scattered and for other reasons in no position to take in aging parents, grandparents, and siblings. Since 1973, breadwinners have devoted increasingly more time and effort to making a living, and two-parent breadwinners have become the norm. Even so, at this writing debt is at record highs-personal debt, family debt, young-adult debt, college debt, employer debt, and government debt (state and federal).
How long a retirement are you looking at? Could you beat the odds and live to 90? Or 95? Even 100? Never mind what government statisticians say. Each time someone lives to celebrate another birth anniversary, a new actuarial projection clicks into place. The tables are not designed to apply to any specific individual. They're drawn from a count of deaths among people who were born in each given year of its study.
So, they do not give you or me a useful view our future. However, they do give insurance companies, the U.S. Labor Department, and the Social Security administrators, among others, a beginning point for making such necessary decisions as how much to charge for life-insurance premiums, how many people are likely to leave the workforce in a given year, and how many figure to apply for retirement benefits year over year. Also, the tables probably help the funeral-home chains and cemeteries to project their staffing requirements.
Want a more reasoned estimate of your potential longevity? www.msnbc.com/modules/quizzes/lifex.asp has a free 10-minute quiz that does consider race, weight, tobacco, booze, and the like when it guesses how long you will live. If nothing else, the answer makes a discussion topic for you.
Financial preparedness requires long view. If you're well enough and interested enough to be reading these words, you just may live into the retirement years 30 years or more. That may be a chilling thought to a husband and wife who have lost half or more of their life savings in the Millenium stock-market collapse-and remain invested in stocks that have been hammered on the advice of colleagues, friends, and stockbrokers who continue to advise staying put and being patient in the expectation that the portfolio will recover.
There's a growing realization that recovery could come slowly. That stock indexes may fall lots further-from the Dow's 8341.63 at the last trade of 2002 to 6000, 5000, or even lower in 2003 or 2004-from the NASDAQ's 2002 closing 1335.51 to 170. That unemployment may escalate from 6% to 16% to 26%. That most spenders may stop spending and start saving. That the dollar may plunge while gold rises into a bubble. That the present credit bubble may continue to give way to a rising tide of bankruptcies among individuals, companies, and municipalities. For ourselves, we're not quite ready to accept Chicken Little economics, and we've got to guess you aren't ready at all. But we do advise practicing to live within your means and to get out of debt while there's still time to maintain control over your family's financial security.
Here's the story of a doctor who left retirement for salaried employment. He's a friend and client of ours, Will Page, M.D., of Sarasota, Fla. Four years ago, after 26 years practicing cardiology and general internal medicine, he opted to retire early. When financial considerations forced him to cut his retirement short, he reluctantly answered a newspaper ad seeking physicians at a nearby Veterans Administration hospital. So, today he is on the medical staff of the V.A. Primary Care Clinic in Sarasota, and his initial reluctance vanished long ago.
He calls his decision one of the smartest moves of his life. "The work is stimulating and rewarding, the stress factor is much lower than in private practice, and the hours are terrific," he told us. "I work five days a week, from 8:00 to 4:30, and no weekends or holidays."
A doctor's pay in federal service? Six figures. Although his VA salary is well below the income he earned in private practice, Will says it's a more than adequate trade-off. He says physicians who sign on with the V.A. can expect to start at about $100,000 per year in salary and bonuses-not bad when you consider that V.A. doctors don't pay malpractice or other insurance premiums and enjoy an array of benefits, including full medical coverage. Also, there's a generous Federal retirement program, though that's one benefit Dr. Page doesn't plan to capture, at least not anytime soon.
The retirement age? None specified. "One big advantage to working for the V.A. is that the Federal Government has no mandatory retirement age," said Dr. Page. "Conceivably, I could continue working here for the rest of my life."
The locations? Pretty much everywhere. Traditionally, the heaviest concentration of V.A. medical-care facilities has been in the northeastern U.S., but Will says there are "opportunities for physicians to work at Veterans Administration locations in every region of the country." He points out that, as more veterans retire to the sunbelt, the demand for doctors at V.A. facilities in Florida are on the upswing.
Full time? Part time? Will Page says he prefers working a 40-hour week at his V.A. clinic, but he notes that there are opportunities for physicians to work part-time schedules. "At our facility in Sarasota, we have a psychiatrist who comes in one day a week, and there are a number of retired doctors who have arranged part-time schedules."
You don't need a medical degree to find a rewarding second career with Uncle Sam. The Federal government is in constant need of personnel with a wide range of skills from engineers and plumbers to accountants and statisticians. Although base pay scales are often a notch below the private sector, government employees often make up the difference with extra locality pay and occupational bonuses for skills that are in the greatest demand. Fact is, the average annual income among full-time Federal workers is more than $51,000.
Look for the hot areas of government recruiting. While virtually all Federal agencies will be hiring staff in the coming year, post 9/11 security concerns and the corporate financial reporting scandals have created some special priorities. The new Homeland Security Department is actively recruiting tens of thousands of workers, with job opportunities ranging from research epidemiologists (a typical GS-13 will pull down $71,461) to in-flight air marshals (who can earn up to $80,800 and qualify for full retirement benefits at age 50 with 20 years of service).
Your starting point for a career (or second career) with the Federal government is the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, which maintains a useful Web site (www.usajobs.opm.gov) for anyone who would like to work for Uncle Sam. In addition to a constantly updated database listing more than 12,000 job openings with the Federal government, the site offers information and assistance in submitting your resume to hundreds of offices, agencies, and bureaus, ranging from the Arctic Research Commission to the White House West Wing. Check it out.
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Yes, the Peace Corps welcomes retirees with open arms. If your image of the Peace Corps is a band of idealistic 22-year olds fresh from college with a backpack filled with enthusiasm, think again. There's no upper age limit for Peace Corps volunteers; at this writing, 7% of the group is over age 50, and many of the 165,000 Peace Corps alumni have served well into their 80s. "You may actually find your age is an asset," Peace Corps officials tell older applicants. "You will have the opportunity to share a lifetime of work and wisdom with people of developing nations who respect and appreciate age."
Everyone talks about world peace. Here's your chance to do something about it. It's hard to imagine a more proactive way to make the world a better place than to serve a hitch with the Peace Corps. Today, 7,000 volunteers are making a difference in the lives of people in 70 different countries by teaching children to read, improving medical care, encouraging the launch of small businesses, bringing clean water and sanitation to rural communities, and helping families to grow their own food. The more than 165,000 Americans who have served in the Peace Corps over the past 40 years have helped millions of people in developing countries to take charge of their own futures. In the process, they've forged friendships that have crossed borders and endured for generations. And in today's world, America needs all the friends she can get.
Medical personnel are in particular demand by the Peace Corps. Physicians, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics, and others with training in health care are in position to make an especially important contribution through service with the Peace Corps. In addition to volunteering for assignments in developing countries, health care professionals also have the option of applying for paid tours of duty with the Peace Corps, either as "medical contractors" to the program or as direct employees of the agency. Like volunteers, a Peace Corps Medical Officer (PCMO) signs on for a two-year hitch abroad but is paid an annual salary starting in the "upper $50,000s." PCMO posts are often filled by nurse- practitioners and physician-assistants. Physicians and nurses are normally hired by the Peace Corps as government employees (base salaries range from $92,060 to $119,682), and are offered posts in Washington, D.C., and certain foreign countries.
Not everyone can qualify for the Peace Corps. Volunteers must be U.S. citizens age 18 or over, and most assignments require a four-year college degree (although the educational requirement may be waived for applicants experienced in business management or a skilled trade). Good health is also a prerequisite, and applicants must undergo complete physical and dental exams before being accepted into the program. Additionally, volunteers must be able to commit to a two-year hitch overseas-plus a three-month training period in the host country.
If you make the cut, here's what to expect: All Peace Corps volunteers receive government-paid travel to and from their foreign assignment, monthly living allowances, and accommodations that program officials describe as "modest but comfortable." The government assumes the cost of all medical expenses for volunteers working abroad, and it will provide medical evacuation if appropriate care is not available to treat a condition in the country of assignment. Family members are encouraged to visit Peace Corps members while they are serving abroad, and volunteers receive 24-days of annual leave during each year of their tour of duty. When they return from their overseas assignment, volunteers receive job placement assistance plus a payment $6,075 to ease their transition back to civilian life.
Here's more payback for Peace Corps volunteers: before they're sent out on assignment, Peace Corps members receive intensive language and cross-cultural training that will continue to enrich their lives and provide them with valuable skills long after they return. While they're abroad, volunteers gain new insights that can change their view of the world, and of themselves. Peace Corps officials tell older volunteers to expect to come home from their assignments changed for the better: "You will be in an environment where life is measured by your achievements, not your earning power." The real payoff, though, is the satisfaction that comes from making a hands-on contribution to improve the lives of disadvantaged people in other lands.
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Government work isn't your cup of tea? There are plentiful opportunities for part-time or temporary locum tenens physician positions in virtually every part of the country today. "There's a strong demand for doctors to work temporary duty in hospitals, HMOs, and group practices, filling in for staff physicians who are on vacation or otherwise unable to work," said Dennis Bottomley, executive director of the Physicians Placement Service of America, in Franklin, Tenn.
His organization lists hundreds of opportunities. At last check, more than 1,400 openings were beckoning to doctors at some 250 big medical groups, hospitals, HMOs, and smaller private practices across the country. Retired physicians interested in reentering the workforce can make strong candidates for the positions, said Dennis Bottomley, provided they have maintained board certification in their specialties.
Interested in a limited work schedule? It's widely available with the help of specialized locum tenens placement firms that have cropped up across the country. Linde Healthcare in St. Louis offers doctors locum tenens assignments over the short term or long, with "paid expenses including travel, lodging, malpractice insurance, and licensure fees" at locations across the country.
What about credentials? An Internet placement service (www.Locumtenens.com) operated by retired surgeon and former AMA President Harrison L. Rogers, Jr., M.D., promises "hassle-free credentialing," specifically including assistance in securing a new state license, and even help for doctors in sharpening up the old curriculum vitae.
The pay scale for locum tenens physicians? As you'd guess, they vary by specialty and from place to place, "but the hourly rate is generally higher than the doctor would command in a permanent, full-time position," Dennis Bottomley said.
Opportunities for other retired professionals, too. Engineers, architects, social workers, specialists in information technology, dietitians, pharmacists, and other professionals seeking to rejoin the workforce after retirement often find a strong demand for their skills and experience in the private sector. Many CPAs are able to supplement their retirement income handsomely by signing on for a temporary stint with a tax preparation service or accounting firm during the annual tax-filing season. Retired teachers may find their skills in demand as employee-training specialists at large corporations. Nurses are able to put their training and education to use after retirement as part-time patient care coordinators for health insurers.
Retired attorneys may find the grass is greener as a contract legal services provider. It's not at all unusual for successful lawyers to burn out at the peak of their careers, opt for an early retirement, and then find themselves itching to return to the action. Increasingly, retired attorneys are scratching that itch-without rejoining the rat race-by signing on as contract employees at law firms and corporate legal offices across the country. Legal recruitment firms like Shelton, Connecticut-based CounselHounds (www.counselhounds.com) specialize in both temporary and permanent placement of attorneys and other legal professionals as contract employees.
Let the Internet jump start your transition from retirement to the workforce. Regardless of your employment background and job skills, you're likely to find the Internet a major help in rekindling your career after retirement. Online communications have opened up telecommuting opportunities for millions of Americans, including many retired or disabled individuals who would never have been able to resume their careers without the Internet. Also, job placement sites like Monster.Com (with online listings for over a million employment opportunities) have made it possible to shop for a new career without leaving home.
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Locum tenens assignments aren't limited to the United States. Retired physicians, as well as those still actively practicing, are being recruited to sign on for working holidays in Australia, New Zealand, and other English-speaking countries in the South Pacific, the Caribbean, and occasionally the United Kingdom.
One recruit: Jack I. Paap, M.D., a Colorado Springs family practitioner. He signed on for a six-month assignment in Australia, filling in for vacationing Aussie physicians at a series of Queensland medical groups. He cautions fellow doctors not to enter such arrangements expecting hefty financial rewards. The pay scales are low-the equivalent of about $18 per hour, U.S.-but the experience of practicing in such a radically different system, he said, was priceless.
Another recruit: Rob Bradley, another Colorado M.D. "My wife and I knew we were going to have an adventure and were prepared for anything, good or bad," he said. He had arranged a similar working visit to Australia. "I worked with Aboriginal people in the tropical north of Australia," he said, "and I saw an astonishing array of things, like Hansen's Disease, Donovanosis, and scabies-things you rarely see in North America."
If you're merely bored, consider volunteering. Over the last 60 years and more, a growing number of American physicians have been opting to make meaningful contributions to improving healthcare in medically under served areas around the world-some during vacation periods, others as a retirement opportunity. One is Lowell Furman, MD, another client and friend. Lowell retired early from a group practice in Boone, N.C., in order to lead medical missions in remote areas that are desperately in need of health care services. Over the past 20 years, Dr. Furman has personally led missions to over 20 third world countries. The organization he founded with his brother, Richard Furman, M.D.-the World Medical Mission-has sent more than 160 physician-volunteers on lifesaving crusades.
You don't need medical training to find opportunities abroad. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) seeks volunteers with a variety of skills and backgrounds. One of them is Zoran Hosic, a Wisconsin social worker who is now a UN volunteer in the Caribbean. For the past three years, he worked as a United Nations drug prevention counselor in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, a job he describes as both "exhausting and exhilarating."
Attorneys are in demand for pro bono work and salaried assignments. U.S. lawyers experienced in international practice can land interesting short-term assignments abroad through a variety of governmental and business organizations. The UN Secretariat's Department of Peacekeeping Operations, for one, hires attorneys from the U.S. to assist with rebuilding national judicial systems and prosecuting war criminals. Lawyers with no international experience can get a taste of practice abroad through the American Bar Association's International Legal Exchange Program, an arrangement that enables U.S. and foreign attorneys to temporarily swap jobs.
Teachers can find a wealth of career opportunities abroad. U.S. military bases from Europe to the Far East are actively recruiting teachers at schools for the hundreds of thousands of dependents of active duty personnel stationed abroad. Foreign schools and universities offer even more options for U.S. teachers. "I am definitely spoiled by the small class sizes, relaxed student rules, diligent student body, and incredible parent involvement" in Germany, says Allison Myers, a teacher who landed her foreign teaching job on the Internet through JoyJobs.Com, reports tangible benefits to teaching abroad.
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You needn't trot the globe to find interesting ways to volunteer. Hundreds of retired physicians all across the U.S. have found opportunities to contribute time, energy, experience, and skills in their own communities. Some, like Racine, Wis., physician William Little, Jr., M.D., have gone a step further by creating such opportunities. He retired from practice more than a decade ago, but he continued to feel the urge to contribute. A year into his retirement, he helped to found a free clinic for low-income and uninsured patients in Racine.
Your own backyard can be a nice place to be. The free clinic "looked like a great activity for me, because I missed practicing medicine and was looking for volunteer things to do in other parts of the country or the world-and this opportunity arose right in my own community," Dr. Little said. He serves as medical director of the free clinic and spends one day each week there. Other retired doctors also work at the clinic on a volunteer basis. At recent count, the facility was treating 1,000 patients yearly.
Free clinics are in operation elsewhere. The efforts of Dr. Little are being duplicated across the country, often with the assistance of medical associations. The North Carolina Medical Society Foundation, for one, has launched a program aimed at encouraging more retired doctors to contribute services in their communities. A spokesperson said the main reason more retired doctors aren't volunteering is that no one asked them to do so. By serving as a clearinghouse for information, the program is helping to keep that state's volunteer medical clinics fully staffed.
Another option: AmeriCorps*VISTA. This updated incarnation of the 1960s-era Volunteers In Service To America program offers opportunities for people from all walks of life to make a real difference. Each year, more than 5,000 AmeriCorps volunteers tutor and mentor young people, build housing for the homeless, clean up the environment, teach computer skills to the underprivileged, or help communities respond to disasters.
One AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer is Joan Heron. A retired university teacher from Idyllwild, Calif., Joan signed on with the program to work with the families of young children in Moscow, Idaho. "After I retired from teaching at the university in 1994, I began looking for ways to provide service," she explained. Retirement "was a good life, but felt I wasn't being as fully used as I could be." Volunteering to help rural families build a better life for their children filled a void in her life, she said. "It is so satisfying to be able to use the skills and wisdom I have developed over a lifetime."
You won't get rich volunteering to help people or communities in need. At most, full-time volunteers at AmeriCorps*VISTA can count on receiving a modest annual living allowance of about $9,300, along with health insurance for the duration of their typical service hitch of 10 to 12 months. Part-timers get even less-usually only a small educational assistance grant after their tour is finished. But the nonmonetary rewards available to volunteer poverty fighters can be considerable.
Find your own way to lend a helping hand in your community. Volunteers are needed at libraries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and animal rescue stations in every city, town, and village in America. If you can read a book to child, deliver a meal to a shut-in, slap a stamp on a fund-raising letter, or spend a few hours each week visiting lonely nursing-home residents, you can make an important and rewarding contribution to your community. What are you waiting for?
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How best to make a contribution? Harold Boehning, the retired anesthesiologist who heads up the Dallas support group for retired physicians, says the most direct way "for a retired doctor to make an important contribution is by getting into politics." His view must have lots of support. Every two years, hundreds of physicians, dentists and other health-care professionals run for elective office at the state or national levels, and many of them are successful. One recent nose count told us more than 400 doctors were currently serving in Congress, state legislatures, city councils, local planning boards, and other elected offices throughout the country.
Some work behind the scene. Dr. Boehning worked diligently to help elect others. He said: "Years ago, I was the chairman of our state's physicians political action committee-the group responsible for raising campaign funds to support worthwhile candidates. Since I retired, I've had the time to become even more involved in these activities, and I currently chair our state's Republican Senatorial Platform Committee."
Don't feel you need a legal background to run for office. While it's true that lawyers make up a disproportionate share of the members of Congress as well as state and local legislative bodies across the country, a law degree is no prerequisite to running for elective office. Some of our more effective lawmakers come from backgrounds that are far removed from the legal profession.
Legislatures are truly representative only when people from all walks of life seek and hold elective office. Harry Truman, our 33rd President, was elected to Congress after starting adult life as a haberdasher. Current Senate majority leader Bill Frist is a highly regarded surgeon. House majority leader Tom DeLay was a bug exterminator in Texas. And Congressional health-care reformer Charlie Norwood practiced dentistry in Augusta, Ga.
Expect to start at the bottom of the political ladder and work your way up. Don't count on making a serious run for statewide or national office as a political newcomer. Most people get their first taste of politics as a volunteer for someone else's campaign. Often, that's enough to satisfy their craving for political involvement. But sometimes volunteer work becomes a steppingstone to public office. Many of today's successful legislators spent years toiling in the backwaters of politics before emerging as political stars in their own rights.
What if you have the itch to seek elective office yourself? Your best bet is to start locally with a run for the town council or the school board. Win or lose, you'll learn a lot about the political process. And if the experience doesn't sour you on politics altogether, it will make you an even stronger candidate in future campaigns. Some of America's most able political leaders started out by seeking local offices. They wound up making a positive impact on their communities, and then moved on to seek broader responsibilities in state and national elections.
What if you don't have the stomach for political campaigning? At least half the candidates for public office are turned down by the voters-a fact of life that makes politics a poor career choice for anyone who has difficulty handling rejection. If you lack the stomach, consider hitching your wagon to someone else's political star. If you work tirelessly on behalf of a candidate you believe in-and are foresighted enough to pick a successful candidate-you may pluck a prime political post when the new Administration takes office. Up for grabs in Washington every four to eight years: everything from sensitive diplomatic posts to seats on powerful regulatory commissions. A detailed listing of these highly sought after appointments, known as "The Plum Book," is published and made available to the public whenever a new President is elected.
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You can help see that justice is done
Here's an opportunity you may never have considered. Serve as an expert witness in court cases involving medical litigation. At first response, some doctors might object from siding with malpractice lawyers, but others might argue that physicians who provide expert testimony help ensure that court verdicts are fair to all sides-including medical practitioners. "It's an important service, the work is interesting, and the pay is good," says Pat Iyer, president of Med League Support Services, a Flemington, N.J., organization that acts as a referral service for physicians and other health professionals seeking assignments as expert witnesses.
Others agree: Justice is the issue. Also, American Medical Forensic Specialists, another organization that recruits doctors to assist in medical litigation, says the role of physician expert witnesses is to ensure justice in the review of such cases. "We oppose the use of 'hired guns' as expert witnesses," AMFS says in its doctor-recruiting materials. "Your participation will help assure that all physicians and hospitals faced with medical malpractice suits get an objective, nonbiased hearing."
One problem: The activity is not a workable option for all physicians. "To be a credible and effective expert witness, a physician must be board certified in his or her specialty and must never have had any license suspension, revocation, or other serious disciplinary action," Pat Iyer said. Also, she added, physicians who refuse to work for plaintiffs in medical malpractice cases have credibility problems when serving as expert witnesses on behalf of other doctors. "Doctors who come to us and say 'I'll only do defense work' have crippled their effectiveness as expert witnesses," she said, "because their objectivity is in question."
Another problem: out of the loop too long. Physicians who have been retired from active practice for more than five or six years may find few opportunities to serve as expert witnesses. "Doctors can and do serve as expert medical witnesses after they retire, but they must have been in active practice at the time the alleged malpractice occurred," Iyer said. "An opinion on standards of medical practice in the '90s from a doctor who retired in the '80s would be extremely vulnerable to challenge from the other side."
Pay scales for expert witnesses vary by medical specialty. But they generally begin at $200 to $250 an hour for time spent reviewing medical records, depositions, and testimony by other expert witnesses, and for preparing preliminary conclusions for the client. At that point, the expert witness may be asked to produce a more detailed written report, and, perhaps, to testify during a trial.
The kicker: satisfaction. In addition to being reasonably paid for their time and expertise, expert medical witnesses may also receive the satisfaction of knowing that their efforts helped to right a wrong, improve the standards of medical practice, or exonerate a fellow physician who had been unfairly accused of malpractice.
But watch out for these pitfalls. Trial attorney Phillip Kolczynski, of Santa Ana, Calif., warns that expert witnesses sometimes trip up on the witness stand, ruining an otherwise solid case and destroying their own opportunities for future assignments. Among the deadly sins he cautions his expert witnesses against: "offering opinions outside your area of expertise," "mishandling custody of tangible evidence," "allowing your ego to intrude in your deposition or trial testimony," and "becoming an advocate instead of an unbiased expert whose opinion happens to favor your client."
Of course, you don't need an M.D. degree to be an expert witness. Leonard Kushner, a retired electrical engineer from Burbank, Calif., testifies in OSHA workplace safety cases. Physician's assistant Ray Mooney moonlights as an expert witness in personal injury cases near his practice in Michigan. Steven Smathers, a corporate finance professor from Dallas, offers his expertise in civil bankruptcy cases. And retired airline pilot Vincent Czaplyski keeps busy as an expert witness in air safety cases. No matter what your background, chances are the expertise you gained during the course of your career will be in demand in the courtroom.
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by Balliett Financial Services, Inc.