Dr. Leonard Glass, a Physician Retraining & Reentry co-founder, says the idea for PRR began when he thought about “recycling” the potential pool of hundreds of thousands of physicians who were retired, near retirement or burned out. In an interview with Health eCareers, he said the PRR concept came as he “was looking down the road to the kind of medical care his grandchildren would have in their futures, and he wanted to do his part.” 

The article, ‘Recycling’ Good Doctors Can Ease Primary Care Physician Shortage, also includes interviews with past PRR participants. 

Dr. Kate Gibson was a family physician before taking a break from practice to be with her family and teach – but she eventually missed her clinical practice, she told the publication. “I wanted to do a more formal reentry into medicine, and I looked at lots of programs,” Dr. Gibson says. She now practices, and teaches, family medicine. 

Dr. Gary Rea left his neurosurgery practice to move to a different state to be with his family. In his new location, he found a federally qualified health center where he could volunteer to work with underserved patients. “They don’t need a neurosurgeon, so I decided I should take a course to be a PCP,” he says. “I know things have changed since I was an intern, and I wanted to be comfortable in what I’m doing and do a good job. This course came up, and it fit my needs: solid, well organized and well thought out. The material is current and free of bias.” 

Ready to recycle your medical career?