Practice policies for older anesthesiologists in academic departments: a national survey of academic departmental chairpersons

The ageing anaesthetist: lessons from the North American experience

“…In 2012, the authors of the present article surveyed chairmen of academic departments in the USA about their practice policies for older anaesthetists (Table 1). 9 The study included questions about whether the departments screened for six problem behaviours, including (i) critical incidents, (ii) errors in technique or judgement, (iii) substance abuse, (iv) emotional impairment, (v) fixation errors leading to performance issues and (vi) physical impairment. Almost all departments tracked critical incidents, almost three quarters tracked substance abuse, over half tracked physical and emotional impairment and fixation errors and a third of the departments tracked all six types of problem behaviour.…”

“…3,6,8 Although there is no precise definition of the term 'older anaesthetist', the age range quoted in most of the literature is 55e70 yrs of age. 9 An earlier survey of anaesthetists in the USA noted that this cohort also constitutes the segment of the anaesthesia workforce considering retirement. 10…”

“…Departmental policies for eight age-related issues and percentage of responding academic departments with such policies in place 9. Adapted with permission.…”

Do all anesthesiologists have a “sell by” date?

“…A contribution by Garfield et al, titled "Practice policies for older anesthesiologists in academic departments: a national survey of academic departmental chairpersons", appears in this issue of the Journal of Clinical Anesthesia [1]. Most who can identify with the term "older academic anesthesiologists" probably would immediately think, as I did, "Well, it's about time this was addressed!"…”