Development of Geriatrics-Oriented Faculty in General Internal Medicine

7 October 2003 | Volume 139 Issue 7 | Pages 615-620

The need for adequate geriatrics training for the physician workforce has been recognized for decades. However, there are not enough academic geriatricians to provide for the educational needs of trainees, and this situation is not expected to change in the future. General internists are often responsible for teaching medical students and internal medicine residents to care for elderly patients in inpatient and ambulatory settings. These academic general internists could play a pivotal role in providing geriatrics instruction.

To characterize what is being done to develop geriatrics-oriented general internal medicine faculty, we identified current practices, "best practices," goals and targets, and barriers to achieving those goals and targets. We reviewed the literature on faculty-development programs for general internal medicine faculty, and we held focus groups and structured interviews with general internal medicine unit chiefs and directors of Geriatric Centers of Excellence at 46 medical schools throughout the United States. We found a need for programs to develop geriatrics-oriented academic general internists. Although general internal medicine faculties seem receptive to further geriatrics training, important obstacles exist. These include inadequate time and resources as well as motivational and attitudinal challenges. We discuss potential solutions for overcoming these barriers and the implications of these solutions for stakeholders.

Author and Article Information

From the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, Dallas, Texas.

Grant Support: In part by the Society of General Internal Medicine through a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation, Inc.

Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest: None disclosed.

Requests for Single Reprints: Craig D. Rubin, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-8889; e-mail, craig.rubin{at}utsouthwestern.edu.

Current Author Addresses: Drs. Rubin, Stieglitz, Vicioso, and Kirk: Department of Internal Medicine, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, Dallas, TX 75390-8889.