As Population Grows Older, Geriatricians Grow Scarce

While the U.S. population age 55 and older is growing rapidly, according to a 2005 census report, the number of medical school grads going into geriatrics has been slow to keep up. According to one estimate, the nation's teaching hospitals are producing one or two geriatricians for every nine cardiologists or orthopedic surgeons.
Low reimbursements and the allure of higher-paying specialties have been largely responsible. Then, too, the prospect of working long hours treating severely ill patients in their homes or at a hospital or nursing facility can be a turnoff, some physicians say. "These are hard patients to treat because they're usually burdened with multiple complex disorders like Alzheimer's, dementia and congestive heart failure, and are often at the end of life," says Pittsburgh geriatrician Judith Black. Geriatrics isn't sexy, Black says, "but it can be extremely rewarding."