An article published in the Harvard Business Review set out to answer the question: “do doctors get worse as they get older?” With an aging population of physicians and the ever-changing nature of technology and medicine, it’s important that physicians maintain their clinical skills as they age. So what’s the best method for making sure that happens? We consider our options and make a suggestion in this blog article.
Current Standards
First off, let’s talk about the standards that are currently in place to ensure physicians keep up with the changing medical landscape. The American Board of Internal Medicine requires Internists to pass Maintenance of Certification (MOC) exams every 10 years in order to maintain their board-certification. Almost every surgical specialty has a different process for monitoring or mandating continuing education, certification, and tracking competency. But many are concerned that these assessments are not the best way to incentivize physicians to keep up with the latest technologies and improve patient care. Some have suggested a better way would be to measure patient outcomes. From the article:
“While there is some evidence that physicians’ clinical knowledge, adherence with up-to-date standards of care, and performance on process measures may wane as they get older, little is known about whether and how age impacts physicians’ practice and their patient outcomes.”
Improving Performance & Outcomes
Even the methods for measuring our performance and outcomes is heavily debated. While it has not been well studied or reported on historically, patient outcomes have been shown to drop as a physician ages. There are many potential reasons for this, including:
- It may be that many of us have difficulty adapting to change and older physicians may be last to adjust to advancements in technology.
- It may be that some technical skills decline with physical decline, aging and mental processing delays, and each of us reaches a different tipping point where knowledge and experience overcomes these changes.
- It may be that there are biases in the way the studies are performed.
When we go beyond understanding concepts of performance improvement as well as performance decline, my belief is that both are ideal for coaching. In many ways, we know ourselves best. We know the inner workings of our thoughts, feelings, and bodies. In other ways, coaching principles encourage one to receive constructive feedback, challenge thinking, ask empowering questions, and improve empathy in a more confidential and less judgemental environment. When you combine the expertise of a well-trained surgeon with that of a well-trained coach, the opportunities to improve and grow almost become endless. Whether early or late in one’s surgical career, most of us explore how and in what capacity we can apply our knowledge and skills to the benefit of ourselves and others.
What if our surgeons had coaches?
What if we used coaches to assist us to maintain and/or improve our skills?
What if coaches improved patient care, outcomes and experience?
SurgeonMasters is a physician coaching company delivering strategies tools aimed at preventing burnout and promoting wellness in the medical community. Have a suggestion for a blog article or podcast episode? Email [email protected] us to get involved!
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