A few days ago, the New York Times’s lead editorial was titled, “How Would You Feel About a 100-Year-Old Doctor?” The point of the piece was that after a certain age we should require physicians to undergo periodic “competency assessments.”
No question that while aging can bring great benefits – including, as the author of the piece, Sandeep Jauhar, writes, “accrual of experience and judgement” – after a certain age we all experience “physical and mental decline.” Hard then to argue with the proposition that physicians who on occasion have our lives in their hands should be required at certain intervals to demonstrate they can do what they should do.
But, if periodic competency assessments are a “good idea” for physicians, why are they less of a good idea for others who have our lives in their hands? Say, for example, drivers behind the wheel of a car or truck; police who carry a lethal weapon; leaders who have the military at their command.
For Americans, leaders are an especially timely example, because our leadership class is aging. This applies especially though not exclusively at the highest levels of American government. The average Senator – the average – is now just under 65 years of age. To be 65 years old is not to be very old, but it’s decidedly not to be young! It’s the traditional retirement age, for heaven’s sake. Even more striking if by now tediously obvious is the advanced age of the two most likely candidates for president in 2024: Joseph Biden just turned 80; Donald Trump is 76. Should they, should people in positions of high power and authority, be similarly required to take periodic competency tests?
I have long railed against our inability or, better, our unwillingness to require that people who aspire to leadership roles somehow prove themselves. Prove some level of experience and expertise before we bestow on them power or authority. This then is simply taking my argument a step further. Simply pointing out that what’s good for doctors should be good for leaders.
Doctors should be required to demonstrate competence before they are licensed to practice – which they are. Leaders should be required to do the same – which they are not. Similarly, at certain intervals doctors should be required to demonstrate competence after they are licensed to practice – and leaders should do no less.