From the Editor

ONE OF THE CHALLENGES OF MEDICAL REGULATION is appropriate oversight of healthcare providers with mental health issues while protecting the public. In a personal narrative titled “When Patient is Provider: How a Deeper Understanding of Patienthood and Disability Can Improve Medical Regulation,” (page 7) Justin Bullock openly discusses practicing medicine with bipolar disorder. In the article, Dr. Bullock addresses mental health disabilities with interventions at both the individual and structural level, and he describes opportunities to improve the current model of medical regulation of mental health disorders.

Medical licensing exams are important in upholding the standardized level of competence among practicing physicians. Some individuals challenge the validity of such exams. In “Do Canadian Medical Licensing Exam Scores Correlate with Physicians’ Future Performance in Practice? A Cohort Study of Alberta Family Physicians,” (page 13) Ilona Bartman and colleagues evaluate the validity of these exams. Their cohort study demonstrated the higher the score received on the first Medical Council of Canada Qualifying Examination Part I attempt, the lesser the probability of a non-dismissed complaint. Their research suggests that licensing exams can effectively predict physician performance.

A current concern in medical regulation is patient management by geriatric doctors and potential cognitive and physical limitations. However, restrictions on geriatric doctors may be seen as discriminatory and diminish the value of experienced physicians. In the research article “Perspectives of Indonesian Dermatologists on the Competence Evaluation of Geriatric Doctors,” (page 20) Agnes Prita Sari and co-authors performed an online survey of Indonesian dermatologists on their views regarding competency in dermatologists 60 years of age or older. Most respondents did not feel that an age limit to practice should be implemented. There was importance placed in assessing the mental and physical well-being of physicians, especially those involved in surgical procedures.