Petriceks Aldis H, Olivas John C, Srivastava Sakti
Stanford University, CA, USA.
Gerontol Geriatr Med. 2018 May 18;4:2333721418777659. doi: 10.1177/2333721418777659. eCollection 2018 Jan-Dec.
It is no secret that the average age of the U.S. population is increasing, and this has special significance for the U.S. health care system. The number of individuals above 65 years old is predicted to increase 55% by 2030, and all the while, there is a looming physician shortage, one especially relevant for Geriatricians. Therefore, current Geriatricians must have objective information to assess the past, present, and future state of this important specialty. However, little literature exists regarding the recent changes in Geriatrics-related graduate medical education programs. In the present study, we use data from the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education, to characterize quantitative trends in Geriatrics graduate medical education between academic years 2001-2002 and 2017-2018. We find that, when Hospice/Palliative Care is excluded, Geriatrics-related graduate medical education programs have grown by just 1.1% when adjusting for population growth. There are 58 fewer total filled Geriatrics and Geriatric Psychiatry positions in 2017-2018 than there were in 2001-2002, a population-adjusted decline of 23.3%. Our results confirm the growing notion that the Geriatrics specialty may need to alter its approach toward professional supply, if it is to meet the growing health care demands of an aging U.S.
美国人口平均年龄不断增长，这已不是什么秘密，而且这对美国医疗保健系统具有特殊意义。预计到2030年，65岁以上的人口数量将增长55%，与此同时，医生短缺问题日益凸显，尤其是老年医学专家。因此，当前的老年医学专家必须掌握客观信息，以评估这一重要专业的过去、现在和未来状况。然而，关于老年医学相关毕业后医学教育项目近期变化的文献却很少。在本研究中，我们使用毕业后医学教育认证委员会的数据，来描述2001 - 2002学年至2017 - 2018学年老年医学毕业后医学教育的量化趋势。我们发现，如果排除临终关怀/姑息治疗，在考虑人口增长因素后，与老年医学相关的毕业后医学教育项目仅增长了1.1%。2017 - 2018年老年医学和老年精神病学的总填补职位比2001 - 2002年减少了58个，经人口调整后下降了23.3%。我们的结果证实了一种越来越强烈的观点，即如果老年医学专业要满足美国老龄化人口不断增长的医疗保健需求，可能需要改变其专业人才供应方式。
