Evolution of the geriatric curriculum in general residency training -: Recommendations for the coming decade

As the number of older Americans increased in the twentieth century, training programs added geriatrics to their teaching and clinical experiences. The advent of added qualifications in geriatrics through board examination and the accreditation of geriatric residency (fellowship) programs brought further recognition of the geriatric imperative. Yet curricular requirements for experience with old age mental illness remain minimal. Reduced support for graduate medical education dictates that general-rather than geriatric-psychiatrists will continue to provide the majority of specialty mental health services to older adults. The authors review the emergence of geriatrics in general residency training and present recommendations for further evolution.