Geriatrics-for-Specialists Initiative

The Geriatrics for Specialists' Initiative (GSI) -- designed to help prepare surgeons and other medical specialists to meet the unique health care needs of the nation's growing population of older adults -- was launched in 1994 and continued in its fourth funding phase in 2006. The John A. Hartford Foundation of New York continues to support the GSI; a $4.3 million grant will fund the initiative through 2009. From the outset, the initiative's approach has been to work with trainees, faculty, and leaders in a variety of specialties to enhance geriatrics education and research within their disciplines. The initiative targets ten specialties -- anesthesiology; emergency medicine; general surgery; gynecology; ophthalmology; orthopedic surgery; otolaryngology; physical medicine and rehabilitation; thoracic surgery and urology. AGS' Section for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties oversees the GSI.

Throughout 2006, the GSI maintained and strengthened many ongoing programs aimed at fostering long-term collaboration between geriatrics and the specialties, including:

The Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars Program

AGS was a pleased to recognize eleven Dennis W. Jahnigen Career Development Scholars in 2006. The Society's competitive two-year Jahnigen Scholars career development awards are designed to support education and research training for specialty faculty who seek to launch academic careers in the geriatric aspect of their specialties. These leaders are vital to developing geriatrics knowledge and enhancing geriatrics education in the specialties. The awards are named after Dennis W. Jahnigen, MD, a visionary leader, an avid supporter of geriatrics education in all disciplines, and the originator of the GSI project. The Jahnigen awards are generously supported by The John A. Hartford Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies, with The Atlantic Philanthropies pledging an additional $5.3 million for the awards for 2006-2011. The Atlantic funding was approved during 2005, but became available in 2006. AGS congratulates the 2006 Jahnigen Award winners.

New Frontiers in Geriatrics Research

New Frontiers in Geriatrics Research: An Agenda for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties - the Research Agenda Setting Process (RASP) is designed to assist faculty who have decided to pursue academic careers focused on the geriatric aspects of their specialties by highlighting opportunities for valuable research. The 12-chapter agenda devotes at least one chapter to clinical research and research opportunities in each of the 10 specialties that are the focus of the GSI. Throughout 2006, faculty involved in the project continued work on a supplement to the agenda that's slated for release in 2007.

The Section for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties 5th Annual Meeting

AGS' Section for Surgical and Related Medical Specialties held its 5th Annual Meeting -- "Insights into the Difficult World of Surgery for Older Adults" -- during the 2006 AGS Annual Scientific Meeting in May. The goal of the section meeting is to enhance the exchange of information between specialists and geriatricians, and to encourage favorable attitudes toward the care of older patients throughout the specialties that are the focus of the GSI.

GSI Web Site

In 2006, AGS expanded and redesigned the GSI Web site so it better serves as a leading source of geriatrics information for surgeons and related medical specialists. Among other things it added a new section that covers new developments with the Geriatrics Education for Specialty Residents (GSR) program. A key part of the GSI, the GSR helps specialty faculty collaborate with geriatricians to develop, initiate, and evaluate model programs that integrate geriatrics into surgical and related specialty residency training. Since its inception in 2001, the GSR has awarded two-year grants totaling $32,000 to 40 such programs.

AGS- John A Hartford Foundation Supported Conferences

With support from the GSI and funding from the John A. Hartford Foundation, the third annual "Surgery in the Elderly Patient" symposium took place in Galveston, Texas in April 2006. The symposium addressed specific problems - including those highlighted by the Joint ad hoc Committee of the American Geriatric Society and the American College of Surgeons -- that surgeons and geriatricians caring for older surgical patients, particularly those who are frail, face. The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston's Department of Surgery and Sealy Center on Aging organized the symposium.

Also supported by the GSI with funds from the Hartford Foundation, a second conference, "Delirium: More Attention, Less Confusion," was held in Durham, NC, in April 2006. The conference covered cutting edge research concerning delirium, focusing on critical issues in assessment, phenomenology, prevention, treatment, and underlying neuropathophysiological and molecular mechanisms. The conference, organized by Duke University Medical Center, placed special emphasis on ICU and postoperative delirium in the elderly.