Maybe You Should See a Geriatrician
Are you over the age of 65? Are you having problems with forgetfulness, falls, incontinence or pain and not sure your current primary care physician understands your symptoms? Maybe you need to see a geriatrician. Are you a primary caregiver for a senior citizen and becoming increasingly frustrated because you are not sure their primary care physician is paying appropriate attention to their symptoms? Feeling that there might be something else going on from what the current doctor says? Perhaps you should consult a geriatrician.
A geriatrician, very simply, is a medical doctor specialist who treats patients over 65 and who has received additional training and certification in the ills of patients over 65. This is a fairly new sub-specialty, and they are not too easy to find, but you might want to seek them out. According to the American Geriatric Society, "They are trained to prevent and manage the unique and, oftentimes, multiple health concerns of older adults."
To learn more about geriatricians, I talked to Dr. Cherie Noe a geriatrician at Mount Auburn Hospital Geriatric Services. This practice consists of four geriatricians and a family nurse practitioner. The average age of their patients is in the mid-80's and most would be considered frail.
Dr. Noe explained that their, "practice is much the same as an internist's or a primary care physician, but because of our training and experience, we are more familiar with many of the problems faced by senior citizens". "Those problems include: dementia, incontinence, dizziness, falls, behavior problems, anxiety, depression, pain management, and end of life care."
Currently, geriatricians must train in either internal medicine or family practice before they can earn the added qualification of "geriatrician". After becoming "board certified" in internal medicine or family practice, physicians can then pursue the geriatrician sub-specialty by participating in a fellowship in geriatrics through a medical school where they also receive hospital experience. At the conclusion of this training, they must take the board tests to become a "board certified" geriatrician. With this subspecialty, geriatricians can serve as primary care physicians for patients over 65 or they can be available to other physicians for "consults" like other physician specialists.
Dr. Noe and her associates see patients in the hospital and in their offices at Mt Auburn Hospital, and they also do home visits for patients who are home bound. These home visits are for routine primary care only not emergency care and the patients must be recognized by the practiced as home bound. Physicians in the practice also see patients in nursing homes; assisted living facilities, acute rehabilitation and long term care settings and psychiatric facilities and serve as medical director or consultant to a number of these facilities.
If you have problems with any of the symptoms listed above, you might benefit from a visit with a geriatrician. Although there are not many available in the area yet, you can probably locate one through your local hospital. Just call the main number and ask if they can refer you to a geriatrician on their staff. If that fails, try contacting the American Geriatrics Society (1-800-247-4779) and ask them to send you a list of their members in your area.
Jack Cross is president of Home Instead Senior Care a provider of companionship and home care for the elderly. He can be reached at 781-402-0060 or www.homeinstead.com.