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Geriatric Triple Board Residency or Post-Geriatrics Portal Project

To the Editor: The triple board residency model combining pediatrics, general psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry has been very successful at many institutions across the nation (1). Many medical students have gone down this path and devoted their entire career caring for the youth of the United States. The Post Pediatrics Portal Project is another model combining residency in general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry for physicians who have completed a pediatrics residency (2).

Switching to the opposite end of the spectrum, the number of individuals ages 65 years and older in the United States is projected to increase to 72 million by the year 2030 (3), and there is a significant shortage of health care providers specialized in treating the elderly (4). What other strategies can address these concerns?

Given the successes of the pediatric triple board residency and the Post Pediatrics Portal Project, perhaps it is time to adapt such models for the elderly population—combining training in geriatric medicine, general psychiatry, and geriatric psychiatry. Such models could begin to specifically address the concerns of caring for an aging population and the shortage of elderly health care providers.

A geriatric triple board residency or a Post Geriatrics Portal Project may not be the complete answer to the aging population and the shortage of elderly health care providers, but it could be a start. If individuals in the fields of pediatric medicine, general psychiatry, and child and adolescent psychiatry came together and created the triple board residency and the Post Pediatrics Portal Project, why cannot individuals in the fields of geriatric medicine, general psychiatry, and geriatric psychiatry come together and do the same?

REFERENCES

TOP REFERENCES

 

1. National Triple Board Residency Program. Available at www.tripleboard.org/
2. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Available at www.acgme.org/acWebsite/navPages/nav_400.asp
3. Administration on Aging: Projected Future Growth of the Older Population. Available at www.aoa.gov/AoARoot/Aging_Statistics/future_growth/docs/By_Age_65_and_over.xls
4. American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry: Testimony: Shortage of Geriatric Health Care Professionals. Available at www.gmhfonline.org/advocacy/testimony.asp?viewfull=3

Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Email this article to a Colleague Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Articles & Searches Download to citation manager Articles by Kalapatapu, R. K. PubMed Citation Articles by Kalapatapu, R. K.

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