Geriatric training in adult psychiatry residency training programs

The authors surveyed all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited psychiatry residency training programs in the United States to determine 1) the type and amount of geriatric training provided, and 2) differences in the programs that do or do not offer geriatric training for residents. Substantial geriatric training was offered in 50.7% of all programs. Compared with the programs without geriatric training, these programs were more likely to be in a Psychiatry Department, with a Division of Geriatric Psychiatry and/or a geriatric fellowship program. These data suggest that current geriatric training in many psychiatry residency programs is inadequate to prepare residents for treating elderly patients and to encourage residents to pursue careers in geriatric psychiatry.