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The average age of doctors continues to rise: one in every second doctor working in Switzerland is now over 50, and one in four doctors is over 60. This is illustrated by the FMH Medical Association’s latest statistics for 2022. 20 years ago the average age of all doctors was 45.
In absolute numbers, this means: 4,900 doctors are still working despite reaching retirement age (previous year: 4,800). And: 1310 doctors are aged 70 to 74, 657 doctors are aged 75 to 79. 318 of them are still working after the age of 80.
20 doctors over 90 years old
What FMH wants to hide: Last year there were even 20 doctors over the age of 90 (prev. year: 13). FMH has disclosed this figure to the observer only upon request. This age category was not initially included in the statistics.
This raises the question: When is a doctor too old to work in the practice or hospital? “Quality, not exact age, is the deciding factor,” says current IMH President and former National Council Member Yvonne Gilli. The shortage of qualified personnel also affects the medical profession. For this reason, doctors who have reached retirement age are also important in terms of supply security. Gilli therefore does not find a strict age limit reasonable.
Are you still working as an appraiser?
The IMH President is already convinced that very old doctors over the age of 90 “probably no longer work in the practice”. Gilli says some of these doctors are likely to hold their professional licenses so they can “take charge of their own health.” Another assumption by the IMH Chair is that very old doctors who are still intellectually gifted are engaged in “a particular professional activity” – for example, working in a consultant capacity or writing reports. However, these statements cannot be verified.
Spicy: Just a few years ago, Yvonne Gilli positioned herself a little differently as a member of the National Council. In 2015, she signed off on an initiative by then-patient advocate Margrit Kessler. Kessler has asked the Federal Council for information on whether to impose an age limit for doctors with a “particularly sensitive” specialty. At the time, the patient advocate had microsurgery specifically in mind. The reason for their advance was the serious mistakes of a 78-year-old surgeon.
At that time, the Federal Council “did not find very useful” a fixed age limit for doctors and referred it to the cantonal supervisory authorities. They are responsible for checking whether doctors offer “physical and psychological guarantees for proper professional practice”. According to the Federal Council, cantons are also free to regularly request a doctor’s certificate after reaching a certain age – for example, from doctors working in surgery. It is unclear whether and how cantons will fulfill their supervisory obligations.
From public hospital to private practice
Indirect age limit is applied in public hospitals. Physicians retire between the ages of 65 and 67. However, many senior doctors avoid this upper age limit and say goodbye to public hospitals early and go to private practice. This means that they are not subject to any legal age limit and can continue to work in their specialty.
IMH President Gilli emphasizes that all IMH members, regardless of their age, must abide by the ethical rules. It states: The quality of medical education and work must be ensured. As a result, physicians have to undergo continuous further education.
Source :Blick
I’m Tim David and I work as an author for 24 Instant News, covering the Market section. With a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism, my mission is to provide accurate, timely and insightful news coverage that helps our readers stay informed about the latest trends in the market. My writing style is focused on making complex economic topics easy to understand for everyone.
