In my experience, older doctors simply... get old. They lose enthusiasm and energy. They are inclined to study less. They perform fewer procedures due to dimin

In my experience, older doctors simply... get old. They lose enthusiasm and energy. They are inclined to study less. They perform fewer procedures due to diminishing motor, visual-spatial and cognitive skills. They suffer the same ailments as their patients - hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, dementia; divorce, overwork, errant children (that's a whole category of grievance and burden !) as well as sundry personal issues. There is the drudgery. Paperwork. After a few decades you have seen it all: the rare cases don't excite as much. They are just another presentation of the human condition. Finally,medicine is a hierarchical discipline, younger practitioners are discouraged from questioning (dubious) decisions made by their seniors. Older practitioners compensate for these deficits with an accumulated body of experience that a younger doctor simply does have. The best age(s) to be a doctor is mid-thirties to early fifties. Just like most other professions.