Providing healthcare to older adults is often extremely challenging. Patients often have multiple long-term conditions, and present to healthcare in atypical ways. Doctors need to be highly competent communicators with knowledge of medical ethics, social care and palliative medicine.
Between 2012 and 2017, the BGS has, as part of the annual Trainees' Weekend, set a mock SCE session in order to support BGS trainees who were preparing to sit the RCP SCE exam. Here we publish the mock questions and answers for each year's session.
When taking time out of programme (or OOP), it's important to maintain clinical skills and knowledge when medical practice is constantly evolving.
If you're thinking of doing research but are put off by taking a lengthy break from work or studies, consider doing research part time alongside your clinical job. We examine the pros and cons.
Here you can find links to our new frailty e-learning module and other useful training materials.
FAQs for doctors in training regarding COVID-19 disruption to their progression.
The Older Person Whisperer's take on coping and responsibility when looking after a person with Parkinson's Disease
Focus on Physicians 2017-18 is the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow’s most recent census on the consultant physician and higher specialty trainee workforce in the UK.
Pressure ulcers cause immense suffering and considerable increases in length of stay. An understanding of the causes of pressure ulceration is fundamental to prevention of occurrence.
This curriculum is based on the specialty training curriculum for geriatric medicine, formulated in August 2010 (amended in 2016).
The JRCPTB published the curriculum for specialist trainees in geriatric medicine in 2010. In 2016, it published an amended edition. Trainees are be required to learn to manage the whole range of medical conditions at a generalist level for adults of all ages.
The Older Person Whisperer's series of comic presentations on the life of a geriatrician
Joint activities such as art, sewing, knitting, cooking or growing plants help relationships grow between the generations.
This Practice Question has been published with the kind permission of the Royal College of Nursing.
Medical Education Terminology relating to the education of specialist trainees, catalogued by the Vice President for Education of the British Geriatrics Society
The ageing population in the UK and increasing pressures on acute hospitals has shifted the balance of care to the community and providing care closer to home. This has led to closer joint working across primary and secondary care, with social care and the third sector.
Physicians practising in general internal medicine (GIM) commonly manage illness in patients who may be in the last phase of their lives. It is therefore an important part of the specialist training programme to manage patient and family involvement.
Based on the specialty training curriculum for geriatric medicine, reference is made to the guidelines for collaboration between physicians of geriatric medicine and psychiatrists of old age.
In a pioneering step, Wales has developed a comprehensive core curriculum of competencies for intermediate care for SpRs in geriatric medicine. While designed for SpRs in Wales, the curriculum has UK-wide relevance.
Congratulations to Dr Richard Dodds and Dr Melanie Dani - the winners of the BGS EAMA awards in 2018.
The Fragility Fracture Network has just published the second edition entitled Orthogeriatrics- The Management of Older Patients with Fragility Fractures.
To help me (and hopefully you) adapt to this rapidly changing practice, I have collated some useful advice from experts in their field into this two-part blog.
Every person can recall a few turning points in their life. One of the turning points in my own professional life was becoming the Chair of the BGS England Council.
There has been a significant focus on UK care homes following COVID-19. Care homes have had to quickly adapt their working practices, to keep their residents and staff safe. Approximately 400,000 older people are currently living in UK care homes.
Over 850,000 people in the UK have dementia, many of whom struggle with eating and drinking issues affecting nutritional status, due to changes in memory, motor skills, appetite, taste perception, dysphagia and food preferences.
EAMA (The European Academy for Medicine of Ageing) is an advanced postgraduate course in geriatric medicine designed to inspire and develop future leaders in academic geriatrics and older people’s healthcare across Europe.
This year’s BGS Rising Star Award for Research has been jointly awarded to Dr Richard Dodds and Dr Atul Anand. Richard is an Honorary Consultant Geriatrician at Newcastle Hospitals and an Intermediate Clinical Fellow at the NIHR Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre. He tweets at @dodds_rm.
This year’s BGS Rising Star Award for Research has been jointly awarded to Dr Atul Anand and Dr Richard Dodds. Atul is a newly appointed consultant geriatrician at the Royal Infirmary in Edinburgh, and Senior Clinical Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. Here he discusses his research into the cardiovascular care of older adults.
HIV/AIDS taught us the importance of public sex education. Now, COVID-19 teaches us the need for public death education.
I can feel an approaching pandemic in use of the word failure. It started with failure to plan, failure to supply PPE and economic failure. There is talk of failure to support frail older people and other vulnerable groups.
Do put October 11-13th in your calendar now for 2021 in Athens. As a result, the Congresses in London 2021 and Helsinki 2022 have each now moved one year onwards. However, this year’s dates, October 7-9th 2020, will be put to good use as we are providing: COVID-19 in Europe: A Virtual Congress.
The COVID-19 outbreak has meant a change for everyone’s working patterns and rapidly. In my case, due to an underlying medical condition, this has meant remote working.
They say if you want to know what’s going on you should ‘follow the money’. By joining this committee, you will soon learn how costly conferences are to run and how much IT support really costs.
Sarcopenia is a hot topic in research and clinical practice for anyone caring for older people. It is common, and is associated with multiple adverse outcomes that we all see in everyday practice including falls, fractures, prolonged hospitalization, loss of independence and earlier death.
I love being a doctor and hospitals have long been something of a comfort zone; predictable, with protocols, and plans, and SOPs. To me, they often feel more controlled than the unpredictable world outside.
The BGS Autumn Meeting will cover the latest in evidence and best practice in the health and care of older people.
A 2 day residential course for senior registrars focusing on management & leadership issues that affect health services for older people.
Geriatrics for Juniors 2018 is here! A day of practical tips & career advice for junior docs, specialist nurses & AHPs around the care of older people. November 24th in London.
Covering core topics:SIG sessions on Stroke, Movement Disorders, Falls
This annual meeting aims to identify and address key training and learning points within the speciality. Sessions include: Developing management skills, Older people in the emergency department, Quality Improvement surgery, Neurosurgery, Nutrition in old age.