Geriatricians have been in great demand due to few medical graduates really opting to study this field. This pattern must be broken and the health care system must rise to the occasion to bail out the baby boomers, researchers said.
A study carried out in this month's issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, and researchers from the universities of Alberta and Western Ontario have said that the number of certified geriatricians in Canada is only 200. It is well known that treble the number of geriatricians is required to clear the existing patient demand.Study co-author Dr. Laura Diachun, director of the geriatric medicine residency program at the University of Western Ontario said the number of people opting for geriatrics is only about four medical students per year across the nation.
"By 2016, if we don't do something, we'll be slipping below our current level of geriatric specialists and with the population of people over the age of 65 about to double in the next 20 to 25 years, this is a major concern," Diachun said.
Source-Medindia
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