The demographic imperative challenging our health care system and society makes geriatrics one of the most important disciplines for the 21st century. To address this imperative, all physicians need to have some expertise in gerontology and geriatrics. Yet, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) 2007 Medical School Graduate Questionnaire (MSGQ) showed that only 48% of graduating medical students perceive adequate coverage of geriatric material in their curricula. In a timely Op-Ed piece for the The New York Times entitled The Patients Doctors Don't Know, Dr. Rosanne M. Leipzig writes that medical students have "no requirement for any clinical training in geriatrics, even though patients 65 and older account for 32% of the average doctor's workload in surgical care, and 43% in medical specialty care, and they make up 48% of all inpatient hospital days." In addition, "Medicare...contributes more than $8 billion a year to support residency training, yet it does not require that part of that training focus on the unique healthcare needs of older adults." To help resolve this problem, Dr. Leipzig suggests that "medical resident training programs that receive Medicare money should be required to demonstrate that their trainees are competent in geriatric care."

The Patients Doctors Don’t Know

Published: July 1, 2009

AS they do every July, hospitals across America are welcoming new interns, fresh from medical school graduation. Given how much these trainees have yet to learn, common wisdom holds that it’s not a good time of year to get sick. This may be particularly true for older patients, because American medical schools require no training in geriatric medicine.

Often even experienced doctors are unaware that 80-year-olds are not the same as 50-year-olds. Pneumonia in a 50-year-old causes fever, cough and difficulty breathing; an 80-year-old with the same illness may have none of these symptoms, but just seem “not herself” — confused and unsteady, unable to get out of bed.

Click here to view the full New York Times article: The Patients Doctors Don’t Know