Psychiatric residents' experience and career interest in geriatric psychiatry: implications for training programs

A survey of residents' experience and career interest in geriatric psychiatry was carried out in Canadian training centres. Residents' exposure to specific training experiences in geriatric psychiatry has been steadily increasing, although a large proportion of residents continue to report insufficient amount of experience and supervision in this area. Residents viewed geriatric psychiatry as involving special skills and knowledge and half were in favour of a compulsory rotation in this area. Geriatric psychiatry was an infrequent career choice along with other areas of psychiatry that have had difficulty in recruiting. Alternative approaches to service provision and recommendations for meeting the manpower needs are discussed.