In answer to the question in the title, I’ll confess right away I don’t know the answer. The impetus for my writing this post is the Medscape article about an 84-year-old physician who was forced to take a cognitive test required by her employer as a way of gauging her ability to continue working as a doctor. She’s suing her employer on the grounds that requiring the cognitive test violated the American with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and two other laws in her state.
I didn’t retire based on any cognitive test. I recall my blog post “Gauging My Readiness for Retirement,” which I posted in 2019 prior to my actual retirement. In it I say:
I spent 4 years in medical school, 4 years in residency, and have worked for more than 23 years as a psychiatrist, mostly as a general hospital consultant. Nothing used to jazz me as much as running around the hospital, seeing patients in nearly all specialties, evaluating and helping treat many fascinating neuropsychiatric syndromes, teaching medical students and residents, and I even wrote a book.
On the other hand, I don’t want to hang on too long. When people ask me why I’m retiring so early (“You’re so young!”), I just tell them most physicians retire at my age, around 65. I also say that I want to leave at the top of my game—and not nudged out because I’m faltering.
In it, I mention a blog post written by a physician blogger, Dr. James Allen. The title is “When Physicians Reach Their ‘Use By Date.’ At the time I didn’t make a link to his post because the web site was not listed as secure.
Since that time, the web site has become secure, and you can read the post here. Dr. Allen lists anecdotes about physicians who ran close to or past their “use by” date.
Dr. Allen’s point is that we often don’t realize when we are past our “use by” date. That applies to a lot of professions, not just medicine.
There’s been a shortage of psychiatrists for a long time and it’s not getting better, the last I heard. All in all, I’m OK with the timing of my retirement.
I note for the record that I have not seen any mention in the news that the Rolling Stones have ever been required to take a cognitive test to continue working. I also want to point out that they are around 80 years old and their 2024 tour is sponsored by the AARP, the organization formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons. I heard that the Rolling Stones new song, “Angry” is up for a Grammy.
I doubt anyone is angry about the obvious fact they’re not even thinking about retiring.
Go Retire Psychiatrist 