Copyright
©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Orthop. Apr 18, 2021; 12(4): 234-245
Published online Apr 18, 2021. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v12.i4.234
Published online Apr 18, 2021. doi: 10.5312/wjo.v12.i4.234
Hanging up the surgical cap: Assessing the competence of aging surgeons
Abigail Frazer, Michael Tanzer, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, McGill University, Montreal H3G 1A4, QC, Canada
Author contributions: Both authors made substantial contributions to conception and design of the study, acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data.
Conflict-of-interest statement: There is no conflict to disclose.
PRISMA 2009 Checklist statement: The authors have read the PRISMA 2009 Checklist, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the PRISMA 2009 Checklist.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Michael Tanzer, FRCS, MD, Doctor, Full Professor, Surgeon, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, McGill University, 1650 Cedar Ave B5159, Montreal H3G 1A4, QC, Canada. michael.tanzer@mcgill.ca
Received: December 24, 2020
Peer-review started: December 25, 2020
First decision: January 18, 2021
Revised: January 28, 2021
Accepted: April 5, 2021
Article in press: April 5, 2021
Published online: April 18, 2021
Peer-review started: December 25, 2020
First decision: January 18, 2021
Revised: January 28, 2021
Accepted: April 5, 2021
Article in press: April 5, 2021
Published online: April 18, 2021
Core Tip
Core Tip: A surgeon should not be forced to hang up his/her surgical cap at a predetermined age, but should be able to practice for as long as his/her surgical skills are objectively maintained at the appropriate level of competency. The strategy of using skill-based simulations in evaluating non-medical professionals can be similarly used as part of the assessment of the ageing surgeons’ surgical competency, showing who may require remediation or retirement.