To successfully practice geriatrics, one must keep up-to-date with rapidly evolving knowledge, recognize heterogeneity among older people, seek answers through longitudinal studies, and accept no symptoms nor loss of function as being simply old age. Functional loss must be the focus and thus rehabilitation is essential to good geriatric care.…

Forces acting on medical education and compelling a reexamination of current approaches include cost containment, competition and price sensitivity, new technologies, the physician surplus, and a rapidly expanding, politically assertive aging population. (MSE)