UW Training Future Physicians in Older Adult Care to Meet Growing Demand

A study predicts a shortage of nearly 27,000 geriatricians by 2025, which is prompting the University of Wisconsin (UW) School of Medicine and Public Health to collaborate with Madison's VA Hospital to train future doctors in senior care, reports Channel 3000 . "When we deliver care to older adults, there's nuanced ways that we have to kind of think about things," says UW Professor Steve Barczi. He admits there will likely never be sufficient geriatricians, geriatric psychiatrists, and other geriatric providers to meet the needs of the senior populace in the near future. "In effect, it's something along the lines of one geriatrician for every 15,000 to 20,000 individuals," Barczi notes. UW therefore mandates geriatric training for all internal medicine residents and select medical students. "We know the majority of people that go through our medical school and our residency programs are not going to become geriatricians, but we feel that all of them need to have those basic skills, so we're 'geriatricizing' this physician workforce," Barczi says. Training includes evidence-based simulations that feature scenarios for issues surrounding falls, memory loss, and depression.