THE ASSOCIATION OF DIRECTORS OF GERIATRIC ACADEMIC PROGRAMS (ADGAP)

For over 15 years, ADGAP has supported geriatrics leadership and academic career development to ensure the field's continued growth and expansion. ADGAP administers a number of important programs, including:

The Hartford Geriatrics Leadership Development Program, funded by the John A. Hartford Foundation and directed by Dr. David B. Reuben, offers intensive leadership training opportunities for newly-appointed directors of geriatric academic programs, with a new cohort of 5-6 directors trained each year. The program organizes an annual networking and educational leadership retreat for program directors who are current ADGAP members.

Status of Geriatric Workforce Study

Since July 2000, ADGAP and the University of Cincinnati Institute for the Study of Health (UC-ISH) have been collecting and disseminating reliable, comprehensive data on the growth and development of geriatrics medical training and practice, through the Geriatric Workforce Study. This research is funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation. Reports released in 2005 provided data on fellows in geriatric medicine and geriatric psychiatry programs, and trends in geriatric medicine and geriatric psychiatry certification and recertification. For access to all Workforce Study publications, including the bi-annual Longitudinal Study of Training and Practice in Geriatric Medicine newsletter updates, visit the Association of Directors of Geriatric Academic Programs Status of Geriatric Workforce Study page.

Geriatric Medicine Joins the ERAS

In November 2005, Geriatric Medicine joined the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) Process developed by the Association of American Medical Colleges. AGS and ADGAP leaders and staff worked to bring this about, and have been encouraging all Geriatrics Fellowship Programs to participate in the ERAS Fellowship recruitment process, which has the potential to increase recruitment in the field. The ERAS process provides applicants with a user-friendly interface to create and submit application materials, reducing the paperwork burden for residents who wish to pursue geriatrics fellowship training.

The ADGAP/Reynolds Geriatrics Education Coordinating Center, funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation and directed by Dr. Rosanne Leipzig, was established to enhance communication among grantees of the Reynolds Foundation's Comprehensive Initiative to Strengthen Physicians' Training in Geriatrics. This initiative has funded 20 academic health centers (with plans to fund 10 more in 2006) to develop creative approaches to geriatrics education for physicians at all levels of training. In 2005, the Coordinating Center organized the fourth annual Reynolds grantee conference, providing valuable networking opportunities and information exchange on innovative program development and implementation.

Another Center project is The Portal of Geriatrics Online Education (POGOe), a Web-based clearinghouse of high quality geriatric educational products. POGOe gives medical educators access to a wide range of educational products, to assist them in integrating geriatrics content into various levels of medical education. The Coordinating Center continued to add products to POGOe throughout 2005.