Geriatric Medicine Training and Practice in the United States at the ...

Table 5.10 Allocation of Faculty and Staff Time (Percent)
Area
Allopathic Osteopathic All
Schools Schools Schools
(n=100) (n=16) (n=116)
Mean SD Mean SD Mean SD
Medical Student education
in geriatrics 10.0 11.4 36.0 27.1 13.6 17.0
Residency Education
in geriatrics 13.4 10.8 7.3 9.7 12.6 10.8
Fellowship training in
geriatrics 11.9 11.6 3.0 5.4 10.7 11.3
Continuing education
in geriatrics 4.0 4.5 3.3 4.3 3.9 4.4
Clinical practice in geriatrics 36.0 20.5 40.8 20.7 36.6 20.5
Research/Scholarship
in geriatrics 20.0 17.7 6.9 6.8 18.2 17.2
Other 4.7 11.5 2.7 9.5 4.4 11.2
Source: IHPHSR ADGAP Database Project, 2001
Table 5.13 Obstacles to Achieving Goals of Geriatrics Programs 1
Possible Obstacles to
% of Schools
Achieving Goals Ranking Obstacles 5 or >
Lack of senior research faculty 70.7
Poor clinical reimbursement for patient care 65.2
Lack of research fellows 61.4
Lack of junior research faculty 57.8
Lack of institutional financial support 53.4
Lack of access to medical students’ curricular time 38.6
Lack of clinical fellows 32.6
Lack of clinical educators 28.4
Lack of access to residents’ curricular time 23.7
1 Measured on a 1 – 7 Likert scale from ‘not an obstacle’ to ‘major obstacle’.
Source: IHPHSR ADGAP Database Project, 2001
academic programs with the faculty and resources needed to
implement clinical, education and research activities. However, many
other academic centers lag far behind in ensuring the adequate
training of future physicians. There is a continuing need for new
resource investment to train faculty for roles as teachers and
researchers, and to develop medical school geriatrics programs of
the size and scope comparable to those of other academic disciplines.
Although much has been accomplished, there are complex challenges
ahead for academic geriatric medicine.
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