Recent research among Australian doctors reveals that older doctors and those with more experience with seniors have a more positive attitude toward them than other doctors …
Published in the Internal Medicine Journal, the study analyzes interviews with 122 doctors, who answered questions specific to their feelings and attitudes toward seniors. “Doctors who were over 30, female, more senior in position, had social contact with well elderly people, or who had experience in aged care showed a more positive attitude toward older people,” reports Endocrinology Update. “Providing medical students with more exposure to healthy older people earlier in their studies may help students acquire positive attitudes.”
In response to the needs of the aging population in the United States, the American Geriatrics Society is proposing that senior care be added to the list of six core areas typically studied by medical school students. According to a 2008 Institute of Medicine report, many medical schools are integrating more geriatrics into courses, but the training varies greatly and less than 1 percent of the faculty are experts in geriatrics.
A November report by The Boston Globe presents recent Institute of Medicine statistics about this issue: “Just 7,128 physicians nationwide are certified geriatricians … That translates to one specialist on aging for every 2,546 older Americans. By 2030, that disparity will nearly double.” The Institute of Medicine also notes that geriatricians’ relatively low pay among the different specialties is a major reason for the shortage.
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