With a view to the upcoming double aging of the population, more people are getting older and the average age is increasing, the number of elderly people in need of nursing home care with dementia, multiple physical illnesses or a rehabilitation process will increase sharply. It is already difficult for healthcare organizations to guarantee medical care and the geriatric care specialists out there are overwhelmed by often changing workplaces.
Not seen
The moment many doctors graduate, the geriatric medicine specialty is a black box for the time being. A small minority has completed an internship in geriatric medicine, because this is not a compulsory internship at many universities. And this also applies: unknown makes unloved.
Make an internship in geriatric medicine a mandatory part
Fortunately, the new Framework Plan for Doctors’ Training 2020, the framework for organizing medical training, offers a starting point. “It is explicitly stated that the graduate doctor must master a medical consultation in, among other things, geriatric medicine. In view of the shortage of geriatric medicine specialists, the unfamiliarity of the profession and the growing demand for care among the elderly, this is the perfect time to introduce a compulsory geriatric care internship in the training.”
More and more care organizations are facilitating internships and training places, including ZBVO. “So let medical students smell geriatric medicine for six weeks of their six-year training and maybe they will become convinced of the specialism of the future,” says Ter Brugge.
By: National Care Guide
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