My appointment to the Governor's nine person Health Care Commission was an honor but very time consuming. It also was an eye-opener to the myriad of problems in the health care system, not only in Wyoming but all states. I became more and more disappointed in lack of access of the uninsured and under insured to get the care they needed.

I realized the fact that all doctors are constantly in the crosshairs of trial attorneys—just waiting for an honest mistake to be called negligence.

And then there was the Cancer Control Committee for the State. Also, the chairmanship of the medical school admissions committee for the WWAMI program, the advisory boards, and the hospital duties, not to mention the busy practice. Even though I was giving my two partners the majority of all new patients, consults, and major surgery, I still was seeing 35-40 patients a day. Two years ago I considered a career change.

I had taken some courses on medical malpractice and the law from an organization called SEAK, INC, which stimulated an interest in the law and ethical expert witnessing. I learned so much from these experiences that I felt compelled to have other physicians learn these topics. I partnered with SEAK, INC to teach seminars on malpractice and testifying skills and I thought my new career was born.

Next, I sought professional help from The PhysicianCareerNetwork™. Their counseling using The Birkman Method®—a blood test, X-Ray, CT Scan and MRI for careers—convinced me that a career change into a less stressful life was not only possible, but inevitable. I started devoting more and more time to the seminar business and slowing down at the office—but my overhead did not slow down. My partners refused to let me base overhead on my production and after two months I had to go back to full time.

As fate would have it, a urologist from Steamboat Springs, Colorado called me and invited me to entertain the possibility of joining him in practice. My wife and I had built a second home in Steamboat five years earlier and planned to retire there. I never thought I wanted to practice in a place I had considered an idea vacation land for 20 years. We thought about it and decided to make the move.

I started out hesitant to do big surgery and shying away from the thought of full time; however, going from seeing 40 patients a day to a maximum of 15 didn't feel too bad. I have been able to spend as much as an hour with some more difficult patients.

Some days I can have breakfast or lunch with my wife, start office an hour later than in the past, and meet my wife for appetizers after work. And, the big plus, my new partner's office manager (his wife) has trimmed their overhead to about 60% of my former practice. My take home pay has gone up rather than declined, as expected.

Sometimes, we don't see the forest for the trees. Although my life was filled with stress and hard work, I assumed that I had to change occupations rather than locations. I am still a urologist in full-time practice which feels like part-time. And, I feel like I can continue in this same location and role until retirement age; then, I'll revisit a career change into the seminar business.