Younger Doctors Better Than Older Doctors?

The New England Journal of Medicine posted a GREAT article today, titled "How'm I Doing?"

One paragraph lept off the page:

"Time-limited certification is now a reality for all boards recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties, and since all boards will be requiring some measurement of performance in practice, more of us are going to get the kind of population-based picture of our practices that I got with my diabetes exercise. Many have greeted the requirement of recertification with skepticism and hostility, offering a variety of arguments against it:
- it's not relevant to my practice;
- it takes too much time and costs too much money;
- I'm a mature professional and don't need anybody looking over my shoulder;
- doctors who are older and perhaps less capable than I are grandfathered in and don't have to do it, so why should I have to?"

Hmmmmmm.... it kind of makes you wonder if those "older doctors" referenced in this article are really as qualified as they need to be in today's world, doesn't it?