154. Time to Move On

The recent quarterly report of actions taken by the state medical license commission noted the license revocation for a doctor under whose care a mother and her twin babies all died from complications of preeclampsia (the same condition that led to the death of Lady Whatshername in Downton Abbey).  License numbers are issued sequentially so seeing that his license number is lower than mine, I can assume that his license was first issued well before 1982 when I first became licensed in this state.

Cut to the chase: did his age (60 or more) contribute to the mistakes he made in not preventing this tragedy, or did he just not know what to do (seems unlikely, this not being a rare condition) or was it unavoidable?  The commission did not go into details but clearly thought it was time for him to move on.

At a recent meeting, a 64 yr old colleague expressed uncertainty with a chart note, "patient needs TOC for CT."  Everyone else in the room knew that it meant Test Of Cure for Chlamdyia Trachomatis, i.e., the patient needs a follow-up test to see if her chlamydia infection was adequately treated.  I think this guy focussed on "CT" as in the xray procedure computerized tomography and was trying to figure out why someone need to be retested for an xray.

Does this cognitive inflexibility suggest an aging process, or just an off moment?  When I forget a scheduled meeting, I think, is this early dementia? When a younger colleague doesn't show, we say, oh that's just Bob again.

How do I know when it will be time to stop working, time to move on?  Hopefully before I tell a woman carrying twins, oh, your blood pressure's a little high, rest more and see me back in a week.