Sunday Cuppa | Christy Hardin Smith

Hand in hand via ChrisK4U. Poignant, lovely shot.

Imagine living in a society which valued its elders, instead of just using them as political pawns by scaring them half to death and then shoving them to the side.

Imagine compassion and care, and a desire to make certain that the last years were filled with comfort.

Imagine health care decisions made based on actual health care needs instead of just what was most profitable:

Geriatric specialists hope the program and others like it help generate interest in the profession, one of the most underrepresented fields in medicine. Medical schools and residencies require little to no geriatric training, and many students are reluctant to get into the field because it is among the lowest paid in medicine.

In 2005, there was one geriatrician for every 5,000 people over 65, according to the American Geriatrics Society; by 2030 that ratio is expected to increase to one for every 8,000 patients. Geriatricians must participate in a two-year fellowship program after medical school to become certified. In 2007, only 253 of 400 fellowship slots were filled, and only 91 of the physicians graduated from medical school in the United States.

“It’s kind of a crisis,” said Dr. Cheryl Phillips, president of the society. “I don’t think many seniors recognize this.”

Our priorities in this country are utterly and completely bass-ackwards.

Kudos to the folks who started this geriatric medicine fellowship, and to all the medical students and caregivers who have taken advantage of it.

diablesseblu | Sunday August 30, 2009 06:48 am 1

Wouldn’t it be financially prudent to have some loan forgiveness programs for those who pursue a career in geriatric medicine? We certainly do this already with docs and the under served rural populations.

And completely OT (but for Christy), looks like RichRod may be in a spot of trouble in AA.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/…..id=4431717

What goes around, comes around.

PJEvans | Sunday August 30, 2009 07:26 am 2

In 2005, there was one geriatrician for every 5,000 people over 65, according to the American Geriatrics Society; by 2030 that ratio is expected to increase to one for every 8,000 patients.

It looks to me like they’re flunking math. That’s a decreasing ratio.

foothillsmike | Sunday August 30, 2009 07:33 am 3

We should outsource the training of doctors to Cuba.

oldgold | Sunday August 30, 2009 09:33 am 4

As part of health care reform, we need to increase the number of MDs and PAs and nurses gradating each year by 30% within the next decade.

That would go a long ways to curing what ails us.

Nanz | Sunday August 30, 2009 10:33 am 5

Oregon, at least several years ago when my Mom was elderly, was very good about elder care; and yet the ratio of geriatric physicians and specialists was not so great. There is no money or status in caring for our elders.

Isn’t it sad–because we will all be there one day! Even the strong, vital person loses clout as he/she enters that phase of life and becomes so vulnerable and at the mercy of caregivers, either family or professional. Equally sad is that because we do not live in a culture where exposure to old people is common most of us do not have a remote clue as to the needs, habits, problems of them. And our elders are very good at masking their problems because they know how vulnerable they are—- I observed several people who, upon having to stop driving and enjoying the freedom it represented, soon fell into a decline and so quickly, became “very old” then died.

The geriatric physicians and especially nurses my Mom had were the best of the best. I wish there could be more status for them — they were the sort of people who would never toot their own horn or think they were doing something special.

A nation devoted to teen worship exclusively sets itself up for problems– it is all downhill after about age 25. Hoist so high on our own petard.

laurastrand | Sunday August 30, 2009 03:54 pm 6

But if gramma needs a breast enhancement – there’s at least 100 within a fifteen minute drive.
BTW, a very haapy birthday and many happy returns to my own Gramma Mary Mayhue who turned 95(!) on Thursday. She reads all day long without glasses, enjoys life, is deaf as all get out (but doesn’t care) and she instilled a love of reading in me. I love her and she loves me – her only granddaughter.
Sorry for the bragging.

RevBev | Sunday August 30, 2009 04:52 pm 7

In response to laurastrand @ 6

I love that..at first, I thought O Yeah….then, O No…why bother? LOL

scory | Monday August 31, 2009 03:18 am 8

I’ve been trying to find a geriatric specialist for my 86 year old mother who lives between Portland and Salem, Oregon. Two years and no luck: there are specialists in Portland, but I live in Washington DC, and can’t make the monthly trips it would require to shuttle her. Her regular medical professionals don’t address the issues of an elderly patient well at all. And as far as I can tell, the same is true for most, if not all of the people with whom she lives in her “active retirement living” community. It’s a shame.

If I were a bit younger, I’d go into geriatric medicine in a heartbeat. Alas, at 48, I’m a bit long in the tooth to start medical school and residency.