The State of Geriatrics as a Subspecialty: Still Young
China: The Aging Giant
Joseph Henry Flaherty, MD; Mei Lin Liu, MD; Lei Ding, MD; Birong Dong, MD; Qunfang Ding, MD; Xia Li, MD; Shifu Xiao, MD
J Am Geriatr Soc. 2007;55(8):1295-1300.
The State of Geriatrics as a Subspecialty: Still Young
The departments of geriatrics at the Beijing and Chengdu hospitals and the Department of Psychogeriatrics at Shanghai Mental Health Center developed within the past 1 to 2 decades, because leaders of the hospitals or universities became aware of the needs of an aging population. There are no formal geriatric fellowships or national board certifications in geriatrics as there are in more-established specialties such as cardiology and pediatrics. Directors and other physicians within these departments are specialists in other areas (e.g. cardiology, pulmonology, and psychiatry), although geriatrics departments are currently training future geriatricians, that is, residents who choose to receive their training primarily within and under the supervision of these departments. When they finish, that university or hospital will consider them to be geriatricians.
Geriatric departments have also developed out of a growing need to care for retired government officials and workers (e.g., professors of government-run universities); the majority of patients cared for within these departments come from this sector of society. It is possible that this group in China, because it has been financially more stable than other groups over the past half century, has lived longer. It is also possible that, because this group has health insurance covering hospital care, it is able to go to top-ranked hospitals, such as those affiliated with top universities.
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