Training in geriatric psychiatry

The objective of this study was to determine the extent and the barriers to expansion of geriatric psychiatry training in psychiatry training programs in the United States. We mailed a questionnaire to the training directors of all 216 psychiatry residency programs listed with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. We received and analyzed 127 responses. Seventy-nine percent of the respondents reported having at least one geriatric specialist on their faculty, and almost half of all reported psychiatry residents take a geriatric rotation. Rates in other medical specialties range from 71% of internal medicine departments to 13% of general surgery departments with any faculty geriatric specialists and from 62% in family practice residents to 3% of neurology residents who take a geriatric rotation. Reported factors inhibiting the introduction of geriatrics into psychiatry residency programs include limited time, insufficient numbers of trained faculty, and insufficient funds. More direct funding supporting the research of geriatric faculty may be needed to stimulate the development of geriatric training.