Why geriatrics? Academic geriatricians' perceptions of the positive, attractive aspects of geriatrics

<(Background)under bar>: Recruitment of geriatrics trainees has been poor a nd the current shortage of academic geriatricians is expected to worsen. Al though barriers to entering geriatrics practice have been identified, a rev iew of the literature found few studies about why people choose to enter ge riatrics. <(Methods)under bar>: We used qualitative methods to investigate the positive, attractive aspects of geriatrics. Long interviews with six ac ademic geriatricians were taped and transcribed Transcripts were entered in to a textual database computer program and reviewed independently by two in vestigators. <(Results)under bar>: Six themes emerged: 1) traditional learn ing experiences, 2) value on personal relationships, 3) a perception of dis tinctive differences, 4) a desire to feel needed personally and societally, 5) prefer democracy versus autocracy, and 6) desire intellectual challenge s. Academic geriatrics, therefore, is particularly attractive to people who value enduring relationships, see challenges in complexity, practice socia l responsibility, prefer working within a multidisciplinary team, and deriv e satisfaction from making seemingly small but nonetheless important change s in peoples' lives. <(Conclusions)under bar>: If further studies validate these findings, they could promote geriatrics as a career; by, for example, identifying students and family practice and internal medicine residents w ho share these values, beliefs, and attitudes and encouraging them to consi der this important field.