Geriatricians Needed in US

Texas Tech Physicians teaching center - Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center - receives approval for new geriatric program

CONTACT: Suzanna Cisneros Martinez at (806) 743-2143 for more information.

As the United States baby boomers continue to age, the need for geriatricians is greater.

woman in winter years According to the American Geriatrics Society, there are currently 7,590 certified geriatricians in the United States –one geriatrician for every 2,500 Americans 75 or older. Due to the projected increase in the number of older Americans, this ratio is expected to drop to one geriatrician for every 4,254 older Americans in 2030. Overall, approximately 200 geriatricians are trained annually in the entire United States, a workforce shortage the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Medicine is hoping to change.

TTUHSC School of Medicine - the teaching facility for many of the Texas Tech Physicians doctors, was granted approval by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for a fellowship program in Geriatric Medicine. The School of Medicine under the Department of Family Medicine will train two fellows per year to become geriatricians. Andrew Dentino, M.D., chief of the Division of Geriatric and Palliative Medicine at TTUHSC School of Medicine, will direct the new fellowship program.

Steven Berk, M.D., dean of the TTUHSC School of Medicine, said it is a national priority to train more physicians in geriatrics.

“These physicians will meet the needs of the growing elderly population by caring for the elderly in clinics and hospitals, teaching other physicians about the special needs of older patients and conducting research to improve care in the future,” Berk said.

Berk said the School of Medicine now has three approved fellowship programs in Lubbock, Amarillo, and the Permian Basin and could train 2 to 3 percent of the country’s geriatric specialists.

The geriatric medicine fellowship is designed for doctors who have already completed a primary care residency in either internal or family medicine. This additional one year of intensive clinical training, which focuses purely on state-of-the-art care of the elderly, allows the physician to become eligible to receive board certification in the medical subspecialty of geriatric medicine.

The fellowship training program in Lubbock will span the acute hospital, outpatient clinic, long-term care, hospice and home care, and assisted living settings. “This program would not be possible without the partnership of multiple institutions,” Dentino said.

UMC Health System will fund one fellowship position while fellows also will rotate and care for patients at the Shirley L. and Mildred Garrison Geriatric Education and Care Center. Additionally, geriatric medicine fellows will rotate through the Carillon Lifecare Community, VistaCare Hospice and participate in the TTUHSC Perry School of Nursing Senior House Calls program.

“The School of Medicine is poised to be the leader in geriatric care and education on the South Plains, and to serve as an example of elder care nationally. This program is part of the community, and we are proud to give back to the community,” Dentino said.