the.com/geriatrics
Pediatrics for the other end of life, minus the lollipops and growth charts.
means The branch of medicine devoted to the health, care, and diseases of older adults.
from Coined in the early 1900s by physician Ignatz Leo Nascher, who stitched together Greek 'geras' (old age) and 'iatrikos' (healing, related to 'iatros,' physician) — deliberately echoing 'pediatrics' to argue that old age deserved its own medical specialty, not just leftover treatment from general medicine.
- core goal
- function and quality of life, not just diagnosis
- key skill
- managing five diseases and ten pills at once
- growing demand
- fewer specialists than aging populations actually need
- signature question
- will this treatment help them live better, not just longer