Geriatric Doctor Shortage Causes Alarm

By the year 2030, 20 percent of the population will be 65 or older,about 70 million Americans and the medical community is sounding the alarm. Because as more baby boomers become seniors, there are fewer doctors who specialize in senior health care.

Unfortunatly the number of people going into Geriatrics is declining.In 1998, there were about 9,000 geriatricians. Today there are just 6,700.

The article goes on to talk about how this will be a crisis and will turn into the Hurricane Katrina of 2020 and the cost of caring for these older people is going to be enormous.

Many medical schools are pushing the government to offer students financial incentives to pursue geriatrics. They say they’re hoping policy makers grow wiser as the U.S. population grows older.