February 1st, 2011 by John Mandrola, M.D. in Health Tips, Opinion
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I asked my age-matched colleague the other day: “Do you think we’ll know when it happens to us?” He responded: “I know. I worry about that, too…a lot. I’m getting out before it happens to me.”
We were talking about our fears of being labeled as an “old” doctor. Not just old in years — our children and bifocals remind of us of that — but old in our mindset. We fear becoming one of the dinosaur doctors who get known for their excessive attachment to old dogma, premature dismissiveness of novel new approaches, fear of social media, and of course the tell-tail (pathognomonic) sign of agedness, ranting mindlessly in front of Fox news about healthcare reform in the doctor’s lounge.
This transition can happen fast. One moment a doctor might be in their sweet spot — a period of time where the nearness of training meets with the treasure of experience in a capable mind, body and spirit. Sadly, and obviously this period is finite. It’s limited by aging. Getting older happens to all of us, but the pertinent fact for medical practice is that, like all humans, doctors age at different velocities. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr John M*
January 25th, 2011 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Opinion
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Did you know that one-third of the country’s physicians are over the age of 65? That’s right, there’s a good chance that your doctor is on Medicare. That’s a concern, because physicians aren’t immune to the ails of aging, and are just as prone as patients to succumb to the effects of Parkinson’s or various types of dementias.
Not comforting if you’re about to undergo an operation, for instance. And absolutely frightening when you consider baby boomers and newly-insured patients will flood our health system in the coming years.
An eye-opening piece from the New York Times highlights the trend. It’s up to doctors and medical societies to report doctors who aren’t able to proficiently perform, but few do. According to the data, the rate of disciplinary action for physicians out of school 40 years was 6.6 percent.
Various tactics to ensure competency have been slow to take off. Requiring all doctors to re-certify, for instance, isn’t working, since the vast majority of doctors practicing are “grandfathered” into not being required to take the test. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
July 27th, 2010 by KevinMD in Better Health Network, Health Policy, News, Opinion, Research
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Recently, JAMA published a study concluding that doctors are hesitant to report incompetent physicians or those who were impaired. According to the article:
“…more than a third of docs don’t think they’re responsible for reporting those who aren’t fit to practice, according to the results just published in JAMA. And only 69 percent of the docs who knew about an impaired or incompetent colleague reported them.
To those who advocate that the medical profession self-police, the numbers aren’t encouraging. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at KevinMD.com*
