U.S. medical schools are plugging geriatric courses into their curricula and adding specially trained faculty members as they respond to an imminent boom in the number of older Americans and the need to better understand how to properly care for the elderly.
The details are highlighted in this story, Medical schools prepare for "silver tsunami".
Why the sudden interest? The U.S. Census Bureau projects the number of elderly Americans will nearly double to 71 million by 2030, leaving one physician trained in geriatric care for every 7,665 seniors (see other elder care statistics here).
Out of 800,000 doctors in the United States, roughly 7,000 are geriatricians. The country needs another 13,000 to adequately care for today's older population, according to the American Geriatrics Society. The shortfall could reach 36,000 by 2030.
Why the lack of interest in the field? According to the article, Geriatrics has never been a field of choice for young doctors. Elderly care doctors are paid less than most other physicians and surgeons and the aged can be hard to treat.
