Should geriatric medicine remain a specialty? No

doi:10.1136/bmj.39533.696076.AD

Head to Head

Should geriatric medicine remain a specialty? No

C P Denaro, director, associate professor¹^,2, A Mudge, staff physician¹

¹ Internal Medicine and Aged Care, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, Brisbane 4029, Australia, ² University of Queensland, Brisbane

Correspondence to: C P Denaro c.denaro@uq.edu.au

The development of geriatricshas greatly improved care for olderpeople. Leon Flicker (doi: 10.1136/bmj.39538.481273.AD) believesspecialistcare remains important for this vulnerable group,butC P Denaroand A Mudge argue that age divisions are no longer relevant

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

Our patients have changed. The inverted pyramid is imminent.Every developed country is facing an increase in older patients.¹² The fastest growth in emergency admission rates is in theoldest age group.² These changes translate into major changesin the profile of our hospital patients, as older patients withmultiple chronic diseases and disabilities occupy more beds.In addition, improved survival is also leading to larger numbersof younger people with chronic disease and disabilities livingin our communities.³ Thus it is not just geriatricians who haveto be able to manage acute and accumulated chronic diseasesand to assess and manage the functional, cognitive, and psychologicalimpairments that can influence longevity, quality of life, useof health care, and treatment decisions.

The concepts of comprehensive assessment, multidisciplinarycare, rehabilitation, and planned discharge have been championedby many groups, but particularly geriatric medicine. Recognitionof subtle and atypical presentations of . . . [Full text of this article]

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This article has been cited by other articles:

Oliver, D. (2008). Geriatric syndromes continue to be poorly managed and recognised. BMJ 337: a892-a892 [Full text]
Yelland, C. E (2008). Geriatric medicine remains a specialty. BMJ 337: a894-a894 [Full text]

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