Lack of fixed retirement age for doctors sparks debate
Picture for representational purpose
Hyderabad: Do surgeons need to retire after a certain age? Must there be an age-bar for surgeons? This is the question doing rounds in the medical circles after a nurse in an operating room requested legal advice as she found it difficult to address the delicate issue of a 75-year-old surgeon whose clinical skills were perceived to be potentially declining.
The incident, reported in Medscape, has been picked up by both senior and young surgeons in India, who state that a healthy debate is needed in medical circles.
This question comes from the fact that some surgeons who are suffering from Parkinson’s disease continue to perform delicate surgeries.Dr K. S. Lakshmi, surgeon at Global Hospitals, explained, “Surgery is very strenuous work and a lot of stamina and physical fitness is required. As long as they are not suffering from neurological disorders or Parkinson’s disease or any other debilitating disease, they can continue.”
Senior surgeon Dr Arshad Mohammed, who kicked off this debate in the social media explained, “Surgery is like an addiction and therefore it becomes difficult for a surgeon to give up. The more a surgeon operates, the more is the experience they get. Presently, senior surgeons are the best teachers in the country. To simply discard them because they are ageing is not right.”
But is there not a need for an honest audit by the Association of Surgeons in India? A senior doctor explained, “The call to retire has to be personally taken by the doctor. If the doctor is not able to do so, the hospital or the Medical Council must do it. The reason is because a debilitating disease or a neurological disorder can cost a patient his life.”“The association can’t fix a particular retirement age because their experience counts tremendously in very unusual and difficult operations.” said general secretary of AP chapter of the association of surgeons.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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