Wow, I went to Cornell and actually remember a professor Tye! It's something we all need to be reminded of — happiness isn't the destination, but rather our mind-frame along the way. It's easy to get trapped in the mundane, daily grind if we forget to keep prioritizing (and re-evaluating) our happiness, especially when it sometimes flies in the face of what's "societally important".
I think it's interesting to look at how you define competition. It actually derives from the Latin 'competere' or 'strive together.' I think you can see this with the "Shalane Effect" aka how the famous Olympic marathoner Shalane Flanagan is elevating her competition, and thus her own performance, by supporting those around her. In the truest sense we can only really compete against ourselves.
I think it's more a question of ability than age. For surgeons in particular, it seems there needs to be a clear line drawn when it comes to factors like fine motor control or vision being compromised. Perhaps it's on the medical field to determine these diagnostics and actively regulate/test for them.