Key result
Institutional credentialing may best assess age-related neurocognitive and psychomotor changes in orthopaedic surgical skills.
Why the study?
Aging is associated with neurocognitive and psychomotor changes that can impact surgical performance, but there is currently no standardized approach for assessing changes in surgical skills and clinical judgment.
How should the surgical skills and clinical judgment of aging orthopaedic surgeons be assessed given legal and practical constraints?
How should the surgical skills and clinical judgment of aging orthopaedic surgeons be assessed given legal and practical constraints?
Institutions should utilize the regular credentialing process to assess the surgical skills of aging orthopaedic surgeons, as mandatory standardized assessment programs face significant legal and practical hurdles.
Answers are grounded in this paper and cite their sources.
May support credentialing-based assessment of aging surgeons' skills; leaves open need for validated tools and prospective data.
➤ Aging is associated with well-documented neurocognitive and psychomotor changes.➤ These changes can be expected to impact the skill with which orthopaedic surgeons continue to perform surgical procedures.➤ Currently, there is no standardized approach for assessing the changes in surgical skills and clinical judgment that may occur with aging.➤ Oversight by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the impact of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the current legal climate make it difficult to institute a mandatory assessment program.➤ The regularly scheduled credentialing process that occurs at each institution can be the most effective time to assess for these changes because it utilizes an established process that occurs at regularly scheduled intervals.➤ Each department of orthopaedic surgery and institution should determine an approach that can be utilized when there is concern that a surgeon's surgical skills have shown signs of deterioration.
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Bosco et al. (2023) conducted a review in Aging in orthopaedic surgeons. Standardized assessment of surgical skills was evaluated. Institutional credentialing processes may provide the most effective opportunity to assess age-related neurocognitive and psychomotor changes in orthopaedic surgeons' surgical skills.
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