The Aging Surgeon: Implications for the Workforce, the Surgeon, and the Patient

Surgeons suffer from the same physiologic impairments common to all people with advancing age. These impairments not only affect the surgeon but also the patients under their care. This article delineates the epidemiologic context of the graying population of surgeons and the cognitive and physiologic changes that occur as the result of aging, the consequence of which is that greater experience does not necessarily equate with better clinical outcomes. This work also addresses potential methods for the ongoing evaluation of the aging surgeon and how elder surgeons may be best used as they reach the conclusion of their career.