Rosanne M. Leipzig is a physician and professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She wrote in the New York Times today about how lacking in skill and training most doctors are in the practice of geriatrics. This is particularly troubling to her because geriatrics is not a required course in medical schools around the country. If you’re a caregiver or if you are one of those who is “of a certain age” to need competent curative and/or preventative care from a doctor, you’ll want to read what Dr. Leipzig has to say. In a nutshell . . .
“I was part of a group of doctors and medical educators who recently published in the journal Academic Medicine a set of minimum abilities that every medical student should demonstrate before graduating and caring for elderly patients. Nicknamed the “don’t kill Granny” list, it includes being able to prescribe medicines, assess patients’ ability to care for themselves, recognize atypical presentations of common diseases, prevent falls, recognize the hazards of hospitalization and decide on treatments based on elderly patients’ prognosis and their personal preferences.
“The 2008 Institute of Medicine report “Retooling for an Aging America” resolved that all licensed health care professionals should be required to demonstrate such competence in the care of older adults. But this resolution lacks teeth. Medical resident training programs that receive Medicare money should be required to demonstrate that their trainees are competent in geriatric care. Medicare should finance medical training in nursing homes. And state licensing and medical specialty boards should require demonstration of geriatric competence for licensing and certification.
“Basic geriatric knowledge is preventive medicine. Nurses, social workers, pharmacists and other health care professionals should have it, too, in order to improve care for older people. But until doctors get this basic training, we can’t even begin to give 80-year-olds the care they need.”
Dr. Leipzig’s entire op-ed piece can be read here.
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Reading this made me feel smarter,better informed.Great post!
Posted by: Resume Writing Service | July 26, 2010 at 02:08 AM