Aging Affects Us All: Aging Physicians and Screening for Impaired Professional Proficiency

In 1959 the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration set an age limit for pilots engaged in certain operations. Since then, forced retirement of pilots has been under attack because it has been perceived as discriminatory and ageist. Physicians are not pilots, but many of the arguments relevant to balancing the security interests of airline travel and the “fair treatment of experienced pilots” are also relevant to medicine.1 In this issue Soonsawat et al.2 have reviewed what is currently known about this delicate issue and the way in which healthcare systems have gone about dealing with it.

Source: The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry - March 29, 2018 Category: Geriatrics Authors: Aartjan T.F. Beekman Tags: Invited Perspective Source Type: research