Geriatric medicine remains a specialty

doi:10.1136/bmj.a894

Published 22 July 2008, doi:10.1136/bmj.a894
Cite this as: BMJ 2008;337:a894

Letters

Geriatric medicine

Geriatric medicine remains a specialty

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Should geriatric medicine remain a specialty is a curious question.¹² Should we be asking if neurology or cardiology or any othermedical specialty is still necessary?

Geriatricians have not questioned the basis for other specialtiesbut continue to be challenged to justify their own existence.We are quite clear what we do—how we are trained, whatskills we have, and what services we offer the community andhealthcare providers (definition of a geriatrician, Australianand New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine www.asgm.org.au).

Of course our health services have changed over the past 50years, since geriatric medicine first recognised the unmet needsof older people who are now the major users of health care.All staff now need an understanding of geriatric principles,¹and the success of multidisciplinary team care is no longerconfined to geriatric wards, as others have recognised the valueof this model, which was developed . . . [Full text of this article]

Catherine E Yelland, geriatrician and general physician

¹ Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Qld 4102, Australia

Catherine_Yelland@health.qld.gov.au