- © 2007 Canadian Medical Association or its licensors
There are fewer than 200 geriatricians in Canada, but the estimated need is over 600, a number that is expected to skyrocket as the number of people over age 65 doubles in the next 25 years. Elderly baby boomers “will just expect” complex medical needs to be met, says Dr. Laura Diachun, a geriatrician at London, Ont.'s Parkwood Hospital and associate professor and geriatric medicine program director at the University of Western Ontario.
Diachun and her Parkwood colleagues have implemented several novel approaches to stimulate interest in elder care among medical students. At Spring Galas young medical students escorted seniors to formal dances. Medical trainees have also golfed, bowled, played cards, done aerobics and socialized with seniors at Parkwood.
“We really try to make it a lively endeavour for [students] to link up with older patients,” says Diachun. “Since then, we've had a 10-fold increase in the number of students doing an elective in geriatrics.” Many may eventually choose family medicine or other areas of practice, but exposure to the care of older persons is invaluable.
“It needs to be clear to [medical students] that unless they go into pediatrics, they will spend 50% of their time working with patients over the age of 65,” says Diachun. “We have to show what's fantastic about caring for older people.”
“We need to be proactive as a society,” she adds.
“Geriatrics is totally sexy,” insists Diachun. “It's the intellectual challenge of it. It's the chance to put all the pieces of the puzzle together for the family that's been to doctor after doctor after doctor. To put it all together, to be a detective, to be with people at their really intimate moments, to really make a difference ... to have tremendous job satisfaction. I think those are the things that make it sexy.”
Diachun recently coauthored Improving Recruitment into Geriatric Medicine in Canada (J Am Geriatr Soc 2006;54 :1453-62). The report contains 6 recommendations, including considering feedback from both the “converted” (i.e., geriatric medicine trainees and geriatricians) and “not-yet converted” (residents and medical students); implementing and integrating local, provincial and national mentorship programs; implementing advocacy, recruitment and incentive campaigns to increase attractiveness of geriatric medicine as a career choice; decreasing duration of geriatric medicine training and increasing training opportunities in geriatric medicine to international medical graduates.