Geriatrics is the branch of medicine that focuses on health promotion and the prevention and treatment of disease and disability in later life. The term itself can be distinguished from gerontology, which is the study of the aging process itself.
In the USA, geriatricians are primary care physicians who are board-certified in either Family Practice or Internal Medicine and have also acquired the additional training necessary to obtain the Certificate of Added Qualifications (CAQ) in Geriatric Medicine.
In the United Kingdom, most geriatricians are hospital physicians, while some focus on community geriatrics. While originally a distinct clinical specialty, it has been integrated as a specialism of general medicine since the late 1970s (Barton & Mulley 2003). Most geriatricians are therefore accredited for both. Specialised geriatrics services include orthogeriatrics (close cooperation with orthopedic surgery and a focus on osteoporosis and rehabilitation), psychogeriatrics (focus on dementia, depression and other conditions common in the elderly), and rehabilitation.
Reference
Barton A, Mulley G. History of the development of geriatric medicine in the UK. Postgrad Med J 2003;79:229-34. Fulltext (http://pmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/79/930/229). PMID 12743345.
External links
American Geriatrics Society (http://www.americangeriatrics.org)
American Board Family Practice CAQ Geriatric Medicine (https://www.abfp.org/cert/caq.aspx)
American Board Internal Medicine CAQ Geriatric Medicine (http://www.abim.org/subspec/geri.htm)
Merck Manual of Geriatrics (http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mm_geriatrics/home.jsp)
What is Geriatrics? (http://www.healthinaging.org/public_education/what_is_geriatrics.php)
The Division of GeriatricMedicine is currently comprised of 8 physicians based at the QEII HSC, 3 QEII based cross appointments (Neurology, Psychology, Family Medicine), 3 physicians based at the Saint John Regional Hospital and 2 physicians based in PEI (one with Veterans' Affairs Canada).
The Division is the centre of training in geriatricmedicine in the Atlantic Provinces and is recognized at local, national and international levels for its research activities.
Geriatric Ambulatory Care (GAC) - outpatient consultation clinics conducted by geriatricians, geriatric and internal medicine trainees and nursing staff with significant emphasis on the assessment and management of memory disability.
Dr. Colin Powell is a professor and former head of the Division of GeriatricMedicine, Department of Medicine, Dalhousie University, as well as former Director of the Centre for Health Care of the Elderly at Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Halifax, Nova Scotia.
He was senior lecturer in GeriatricMedicine, University of Liverpool from 1973 to 1981 when he emigrated to become head of the Department of GeriatricMedicine at St. Boniface General Hospital, Winnipeg, Manitoba until 1993.
Dr. Kenneth Rockwood is Professor of GeriatricMedicine at Dalhousie University, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Investigator and an active staff physician in the Department of Medicine at the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre (part of Capital Health, Halifax).
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