T. Franklin Williams, M.D.
Professor Emeritus of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine
As we all know, there is a continuing need for the geriatric knowledge base and use in caring for older patients. With the high proportion of older persons in our society this is true in the practice of essentially all fields of medicine and surgery, except pediatrics and obstetrics. Fortunately we are seeing increased recognition of this need, including the development of opportunities for specialized geriatrics training (e.g., fellowships) in more and more subspecialties, as well as continuing efforts to increase the overall number of geriatricians. That our already established geriatric fellowship training programs are paying off can be seen in the results of the recently published survey of fellowship-trained physicians (see Medina-Walpole, A., et al. The Current State of Geriatric Medicine: A National Survey of Fellowship-Trained Geriatricians, 1990-1998. J. Am. Geriatr. Soc. 2002; 50: 949-955). It is noteworthy that over one thousand fellows had been trained in those years; among the findings were that 80% of those responding have obtained Certification of Added Qualifications in Geriatric Medicine, and most are active in clinical practice as well as many involved in teaching and research, in particular those with 2 or more years fellowship. The field of geriatrics is clearly full of opportunities in many directions, with a special need for further geriatric faculty development-addressed in the Policy Report of the International Longevity Center USA, "A National Crisis: The Need for Geriatrics Faculty Training and Development Toward Functional Independence in Old Age."
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