Integrated university training program in geriatric medicine accredited and evaluated by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

The Federated Council for Internal Medicine recommended in 1981 "increased emphasis on geriatric medicine in the medical school curriculum, the medical residency, and continuing medical education." In the same year the first examination for a Certificate of Special Competence in Geriatric Medicine was held in Canada. This was the culmination of a process begun in 1974 to establish the subject as a subspecialty within Internal Medicine. The Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada set up a Specialty Committee which developed criteria for the accreditation of training programs. Candidates have to be eligible to sit for the certification examination in Internal Medicine before they can sit for the Certificate of Special Competence in Geriatric Medicine which is awarded only after passing both examinations. Thirty-nine individuals sat for the examination in its first five years of whom 26 were successful. These now form a nucleus of well-qualified internist-geriatricians who are developing academic programs in geriatric medicine in Canadian Medical Schools.