GERIATRIC TRAINING IN ADULT PSYCHIATRY RESIDENCY TRAINING-PROGRAMS

The authors surveyed all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Ed ucation-accredited psychiatry residency training programs in the Unite d States to determine 1) the type and amount of geriatric training pro vided, and 2) differences in the programs that do or do not offer geri atric training for residents. Substantial geriatric training tons offe red in 50.7% of all programs. Compared with the programs without geria tric training these programs were more likely to be in a Psychiatry De partment, with a Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and/or a geriatric f ellowship program. These data suggest that current geriatric training in many psychiatry residency programs is inadequate to prepare residen ts for treating elderly patients and to encourage residents to pursue careers in geriatric psychiatry.