CAMC, WVU team up to address shortage of geriatric doctors
Like a family doctor, Dr. Todd Goldberg sees people with a variety of illnesses and chronic diseases. But Goldberg's patients all have something in common: They're 65 and older.
Like a family doctor, Dr. Todd Goldberg sees people with a variety of illnesses and chronic diseases. But Goldberg's patients all have something in common: They're 65 and older.
Goldberg, a geriatrician, treats the elderly. He's one of only 67 geriatricians in West Virginia. That's one geriatrician for every 4,100 seniors in the state - not nearly enough to serve West Virginia's growing elderly population, according to groups studying the issue.
Dr. Todd Goldberg examines Ruth Barton, 89, at Edgewood Summit’s geriatric unit, a training site for West Virginia University and Charleston Area Medical Center’s new geriatrics program.
"There's a dire need and shortage of geriatric-trained physicians," said Goldberg, who moved from Philadelphia to Charleston in late December.
Charleston Area Medical Center and West Virginia University's School of Medicine are teaming up in hopes of addressing the geriatrician shortage and expanding geriatrics training among other health professionals.
Goldberg was recruited to develop a new geriatric fellowship program for physicians who already have completed three-year residency programs in family practice or internal medicine.
Last week, the hospital and medical school started accepting applications for the program, which received accreditation in May.
"We want to attract people who will become certified specialists in geriatrics and provide better care for the elderly in West Virginia," said Goldberg, geriatrics program director for WVU/CAMC. "We want to produce practicing geriatricians who will become leaders in the field."
West Virginia's population has the highest median age in the nation, and ranks third for the percentage of older adults, after Florida and Pennsylvania.
By 2030, the number of adults 65 and older in the United States is expected to nearly double, with seniors making up 20 percent of the nation's population. That volume of patients threatens to overwhelm the number of physicians available to treat them.
"The need for geriatric medical care is a growing problem," Goldberg said. "It's going to grow to critical proportions with the aging of the Baby Boomers."
Geriatricians diagnose, treat and manage diseases for older adults. They often spend more time with their patients than family doctors, Goldberg said.
They also give advice and help family members. And they're skilled at solving problems specific to seniors, such as falls, incontinence, memory problems, dementia and handling multiple medications.
Like a family doctor, Dr. Todd Goldberg sees people with a variety of illnesses and chronic diseases. But Goldberg's patients all have something in common: They're 65 and older.
Goldberg, a geriatrician, treats the elderly. He's one of only 67 geriatricians in West Virginia. That's one geriatrician for every 4,100 seniors in the state - not nearly enough to serve West Virginia's growing elderly population, according to groups studying the issue.
The gap is expected to widen in the coming years.
"There's a dire need and shortage of geriatric-trained physicians," said Goldberg, who moved from Philadelphia to Charleston in late December.
Charleston Area Medical Center and West Virginia University's School of Medicine are teaming up in hopes of addressing the geriatrician shortage and expanding geriatrics training among other health professionals.
Goldberg was recruited to develop a new geriatric fellowship program for physicians who already have completed three-year residency programs in family practice or internal medicine.
Last week, the hospital and medical school started accepting applications for the program, which received accreditation in May.
"We want to attract people who will become certified specialists in geriatrics and provide better care for the elderly in West Virginia," said Goldberg, geriatrics program director for WVU/CAMC. "We want to produce practicing geriatricians who will become leaders in the field."
West Virginia's population has the highest median age in the nation, and ranks third for the percentage of older adults, after Florida and Pennsylvania.
By 2030, the number of adults 65 and older in the United States is expected to nearly double, with seniors making up 20 percent of the nation's population. That volume of patients threatens to overwhelm the number of physicians available to treat them.
"The need for geriatric medical care is a growing problem," Goldberg said. "It's going to grow to critical proportions with the aging of the Baby Boomers."
Geriatricians diagnose, treat and manage diseases for older adults. They often spend more time with their patients than family doctors, Goldberg said.
They also give advice and help family members. And they're skilled at solving problems specific to seniors, such as falls, incontinence, memory problems, dementia and handling multiple medications.
Most patients treated by geriatricians are at least 75. Many are older than 85. Goldberg has treated a 106-year-old patient.
Geriatricians often become an older adult's primary care physician.
"The 75-year-old playing golf three times a week probably doesn't need geriatric care," said Dr. Mark Newbrough, who directs the federally funded West Virginia Geriatric Center and helps run the new fellowship program at WVU medical school's Charleston division. "But the 85-year-old with multiple chronic diseases is someone who could access specialty care."
Recruiting physician residents to become geriatricians isn't easy, Newbrough and Goldberg said. The average salary for a geriatrician is about $150,000. Physicians in other specialties, such as radiology and orthopedics, earn three times that.
Medicare cuts also threaten to reduce the amount geriatricians are reimbursed for treatment, Newbrough said.
"To get people into training programs, there have to be attractive jobs," said Newbrough, who also serves as the president of the West Virginia Geriatrics Society. "[Geriatrics] can be a rewarding and interesting and lucrative-enough specialty."
The fellowship program lasts a year. It's the second of its kind in West Virginia - and one of 127 across the United States (WVU medical school's eastern division in Martinsburg also has a geriatric fellowship program). The CAMC fellows rotate through CAMC's hospitals and work at nursing homes, Kanawha Hospice Care and the Edgewood Summit retirement complex, where Goldberg serves as medical director.
Newbrough and Goldberg said the fellowship program is one part of CAMC and WVU's plans to expand geriatric training for students, medical residents and other health professionals. The nursing and pharmacy schools also have new programs that emphasize geriatrics. A $2 million endowment was established to support the initiatives.
"It's not practical to think we're going to have enough geriatricians to see older adults everywhere," Newbrough said.
Edgewood Summit's geriatric care office opened June 2. Once a week, Goldberg - accompanied by a lab technician and WVU pharmacist - travels to the retirement community and assisted-living center to see patients.
Geriatricians do something that very few doctors do: They make house calls. So if patients can't get out of their house, geriatricians will come to them.
"We're trying to treat people where they're at," Newbrough said. "The reality is a great number of people we take care of have access issues because they're older and frailer. Anything you can do for people close to where they live is a plus."
Keep it clean. Comments that are obscene, sexually explicit, racist or offensive will be removed. If you wouldn’t say it to your mother, don’t post it here.
Be civil. Don’t threaten to hurt anyone. Personal attacks, insults or harassment of any kind are subject to removal.
Be truthful. Don’t lie about a situation or person.
Keep it brief. Keep your comment to one post. Redundant or multiple posts in a row aren’t allowed.
Stay on task. Stick to the topics relevant to the story and discussion.
Don’t post links to sites other than wvgazette.com.
Let us know about offensive comments. Click the “Report Abuse” button if you think a comment is against the rules.
Post a comment