The oldest practicing doctor, recognized by Guinness World Records, is Dr. Howard Tucker, an American neurologist who is over 100 years old (celebrating his 103rd birthday in July 2025) and continues to work as a medical educator, consultant, and lecturer. He's known for his active lifestyle, mental sharpness, and longevity advice shared on TikTok and other platforms, crediting purpose and continuous learning for his long career.
At 103, Dr. Howard Tucker is the world's oldest practicing doctor. We gave our readers the chance to ask him their questions about leading a longer, healthier life, and he shared his tips—covering everything from combating ageism to the latest understanding of the aging brain.
Tucker turns 103 today—and he's still not ready to fully retire. Neurologist, Navy veteran, lawyer and part-time lecturer at the School of Medicine, Tucker holds the Guinness World Record as the world's oldest practicing doctor. Though he stopped treating patients in 2022—he still remembers the exact date, Nov.
The oldest practising doctor is Howard Tucker (USA, b. 10 July 1922) who is 98 years 231 days old, as verified in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, on 26 February 2021.
The majority of obituaries were of male doctors. Doctors who qualified in the developed world appeared to live longer (mean age at death of 78 years) than those who qualified in Asia (mean age at death of 70 years). White-European doctors lived significantly longer than doctors from other ethnic groups.
Howard Tucker (July 10, 1922 – December 22, 2025) was an American neurologist who practiced medicine from 1947 until his death in 2025. In addition to becoming a lawyer and passing the Ohio Bar Examination at age 67 in 1989, Tucker was recognized by Guinness World Records as the world's oldest practicing doctor.
Although physicians may intend to retire at the age of 60, they will in fact typically retire at around 69. Commonly-reported reasons include career satisfaction, a feeling of purpose, strong work identity and lack of interests outside of Medicine.
Radiologists die at around 75 years, succumbing to conditions such as respiratory diseases or cancers, while OBGYNs live to about 82 years. Those who work in public health live the longest – up to almost 84 years. Of course, this isn't a crystal ball and these figures aren't set in concrete.
The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has limited the number of work-hours to 80 hours weekly, overnight call frequency to no more than one in three, 30-hour maximum straight shifts, and at least 10 hours off between shifts.
A renegade physician, a pioneer, the father of open-heart surgery, and perhaps the best surgeon who ever lived, Dr. Michael DeBakey died of natural causes at 99.
Age distribution of physicians in the U.S. 2023, by specialty. In 2023, nearly 83 percent of physicians in the U.S. were aged 40 years or older. There were large variations between the specialties, with cardiologist being generally older than physicians in emergency medicine.
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“Retirement, I think, is the enemy of longevity,” Dr Tucker recently told the US Today show's Al Roker. "You have to have some purpose in life and get up in the morning and know what you're about.” Most people slow down with age, trading suits and ...
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A theoretical study suggested the maximum human lifespan to be around 125 years using a modified stretched exponential function for human survival curves. In another study, researchers claimed that there exists a maximum lifespan for humans, and that the human maximal lifespan has been declining since the 1990s.
Neoplasms and heart disease were the leading causes of death across all occupation groups, with mortality from neoplasms higher among surgeons (193.2 per 100,000 population) than any other group, including nonsurgeon physicians (87.5 per 100,000 population).
Robert Liston is famous for performing the only operation with a 300 percent mortality rate. In the days before anesthesia, surgeons had to get creative with their surgeries in an attempt to save lives while minimizing a patient's pain.
In doctor ranks, the lowest level is general practitioner, and the highest rank is ordinary. 1- (Dr.) General Practitioner: The general practitioner's duties include examining patients, writing prescriptions and reports.
The fourth-year is then an extension of year three and oftentimes will be the students' "test" period where they will be evaluated and given a score on their general performance. Overall the first year of medical school is generally regarded as the most challenging year.
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While appearing on The One Show, via ScreenRant, he was asked about Doctor Who. Gatwa said he regretted never getting to face off against the Doctor's most iconic enemies. "I never got to fight a Dalek. A Dalek or a Cyberman," he said.
Tom Baker is, by a significant margin, the Doctor with the most screen time – he's almost an entire Sylvester McCoy ahead of William Hartnell!