Lessons in geriatric medicine

The care of elderly patients is far more complex than treatment of younger people, yet clinicians too often ignore this difference. The medical school has received a $2 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to teach medical students how to care for the aging population. “With the elderly, any problem has many causes and consequences that need to be understood,” said Margaret A. Drickamer, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine and geriatrics at Yale, and lead investigator on the project. “It means asking more questions and asking different questions.” Drickamer hopes to integrate geriatric medicine into existing curricula. “We don’t want to take away from existing programs,” she said. “We just want to make sure the concepts are taught.”