By: Mark Dotson
Date: September 10, 2025
As physician leaders near retirement, they may find themselves reflecting on career milestones, patients served, and goals accomplished. However, their most lasting legacy will not be measured in titles or accolades, but in the next generation of physician leaders who will follow in their footsteps.
As the healthcare industry faces increasing challenges — staffing shortages, aging populations, evolving technologies, and decreased access to care — the need for strong physician leadership has never been greater. As Director of Physician Executive Recruitment at Jackson Physician Search, I work with clients daily who are searching for physician leaders to help their organizations navigate what lies ahead. Sometimes they are filling a new position, but more often, the search is to replace a physician executive who is leaving, frequently due to retirement. The organization may first look internally for potential candidates. However, if it brings Jackson Physician Search on as a partner, leadership has likely decided that they need to hire someone externally.
As retiring physician leaders prepare to pass the baton, they may or may not be involved in choosing their replacements. However, this should have no bearing on their ability to impact the future of the organization. One need only take notice of the physicians in their charge who show an interest in leadership. With the proper guidance, the next generation of leaders may be right in front of you. Even if your eventual replacement doesn’t come from this group of physicians, by mentoring and transferring your knowledge, you have an opportunity to benefit the organization — and the patients it serves — long after you are gone.
So, what are you doing to develop the next generation of physician leaders? Whether you see it as an opportunity or an obligation, consider the following options to help you leave a lasting legacy at your organization and in the broader healthcare ecosystem.
Establish a Formal Mentorship Program for Future Physician Leaders
If your organization does not already have a robust physician mentorship program, consider proposing a structured mentorship program that pairs executives with ambitious early- or mid-career physicians. A good mentorship program will expose mentees to the complexities of leadership and challenge them to start thinking like a leader. Other goals and expectations may vary depending on the mentor and mentee. Whether it’s coaching them through clinical decision-making, sponsoring their visibility within the organization, or connecting them to influential networks, mentorship is a powerful tool for growth.
Mentorship also humanizes leadership. It’s not about handing down wisdom from a pedestal. It’s about walking beside someone as they learn to lead. And for the mentor, it’s a deeply rewarding experience that extends their impact far beyond their tenure.
Participate in Your Own Succession Plan
When physician executives begin to think about retirement, they should give the board ample notice and offer, or request, to be involved in their own succession planning. This allows them to work closely with their boards to identify and cultivate emerging leaders well before their departures.
This means more than selecting a successor. It involves creating a leadership pipeline that reflects the organization’s values, culture, and strategic goals. Boards and executives can collaborate to define clear criteria for leadership readiness, create rotational leadership opportunities (e.g., budget oversight, committee chair roles), support leadership development programs and executive coaching, and encourage physicians to articulate their leadership ambitions.
If it is determined that a potential replacement is not in the pool of existing talent, propose hiring for the role of assistant CMO, someone you can slowly transfer duties to over a three to six-month period. In my time with a national hospital system, we frequently hired ACMOs for this exact purpose.
By working with the board in these efforts, retiring leaders ensure that leadership transitions are not reactive but intentional. It also allows the physician executive to extend their influence on the organization’s future.
Intentional Transfer of Institutional Knowledge
Retiring physician leaders often carry decades of institutional knowledge that, if left undocumented, can vanish overnight. Retiring physician leaders should devise strategies to codify, share, and sustain this knowledge within their organizations. This might include curating best-practice guidelines, documenting organizational history, and leading “knowledge transfer” workshops for emerging leaders or cross-department teams. Senior leaders must prioritize teaching and be available for consultation even after stepping down, ensuring continuity and reducing the risk of knowledge gaps. As part of a succession plan, retired executives can develop detailed “roadmaps” outlining key processes, decision frameworks, and strategic lessons learned.
To preserve this invisible asset, leaders should:
- Document key decisions and the rationale behind them
- Share insights on organizational dynamics and stakeholder relationships
- Create forums for storytelling and reflection (e.g., leadership roundtables, legacy interviews)
- Encourage shadowing and cross-functional collaboration
This isn’t about clinging to the past. Instead, it’s about giving future leaders the tools to navigate the present with wisdom. Institutional knowledge is the compass that helps new leaders avoid pitfalls and build on past successes.
Legacy Through Leadership
The true measure of a leader isn’t what they accomplish. It’s what they enable others to accomplish. By shaping future physician leaders, physician executives can leave a legacy that will continue long after they’ve retired.
Retiring physician leaders can amplify this legacy by publicly endorsing leadership development as a strategic priority, celebrating the achievements of emerging leaders, and staying engaged as advisors or emeritus mentors.
Retiring physician executives have a unique opportunity to turn their final chapters into a powerful prologue for the next generation. By mentoring, collaborating with the board, transferring institutional knowledge, and intentionally shaping their legacy, retiring leaders don’t just leave — they lead forward.
If you are seeking a new physician executive opportunity, the recruitment team at Jackson Physician Search is eager to help. Reach out today to learn more.
About Mark Dotson
Mark began his career recruiting for Allied Health Therapists (PT, OT, and SLP) for long-term care facilities in 1996. In 2002, he joined HCA Healthcare, recruiting physicians of multiple specialties in the Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana markets. He also worked to develop a team dedicated to sourcing physicians nationally in specific areas of focus for the organization, helping HCA establish an in-house hospital service line for many of its hospitals. Mark saw the growing need for this line of service and was recruited to lead the recruitment effort of Cogent Healthcare.
Mark spent the next nine years in Hospital Medicine recruitment and business development with different companies before finding his way back to HCA. In 2016, he began leading HCA’s Physician Executive Recruitment and Development for the entire country. He quickly realized that combining his focus and excitement for working with physicians and helping grow their careers outside a clinical setting was a perfect fit for him. During his tenure, HCA established CMOs in more than 100+ facilities, as well as created and grew a new entry point for physicians to become leaders by adding the position of ACMO. In 2023, Mark led the company’s recruiting effort to assemble a group of physicians for their newly established team of Medical Directors for Medical Claim Denials. The effort proved successful. Mark and his team hired more than 50 physician leaders in less than 12 months.
Mark lives with his wife and son in Nashville, TN. Outside of work, he loves coaching baseball. He’s been a Little League coach in the local community since 2005, but he’s been happiest coaching his son’s team since 2017.
Head to the Career Resource Center for more physician job search tips. Here, you will find a checklist of job search documents, physician interview etiquette, physician compensation considerations, and more. Most importantly, reach out to a Jackson Physician Search recruitment team member. We look forward to learning more about you and guiding you through your physician job search.
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