THE CRITICAL SHORTAGE OF GERIATRICS FACULTY

To estimate the adequacy of current and future supply of geriatrics fa culty, we conducted a national survey to determine the current supply of geriatrics faculty in five specialties and compared these estimates to standards for optimal faculty supply in geriatrics. Finally, we ge nerated a model to project future faculty supply based on both current training capacity and differing assumptions regarding future training capacity. Our findings indicate that the current supply of geriatrics physician faculty is less than half the number needed in each special ty. (Existing numbers range from a high of 909 faculty in internal med icine to a low of 86 in physical medicine.) Moreover, given the curren t capacity for training, there will be a net loss of such faculty each year in each specialty. We conclude that the number of geriatrics fac ulty currently available is insufficient to provide an appropriate ''c ore'' level of geriatrics training for all undergraduate medical stude nts and residents in relevant residency programs. In addition, the cur rent training capacity for geriatrics faculty cannot even sustain the current level of faculty over the next 10 years. To correct the curren t and future deficit, substantial increases in both geriatrics fellows hip positions and mid-career training positions will be necessary.