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One in four British citizens believe that Churchill never existed¹. This statistic is worrying enough but ‘one in five geriatricians believe that no one wants to be a geriatrician’ and ‘one in two geriatricians believe that academic geriatricians want to work in another specialty’.²

Unfortunately I have discovered the second statistic to be untrue. Hoping to be the only candidate to apply for an ST3 post in geriatrics, my heart sank when I heard the actual number of applicants. In Newcastle, geriatrics is one of the most popular specialties; following the introduction of MMC, the number of applicants applying for geriatrics rivalled and superseded the numbers of applicants applying for those glamorous and heroic specialties (cardiology, respiratory, neurology).

Given that the ‘seed of geriatricianly enthusiasm is often slow to germinate’³ something up here in the far north must be fertilising the little seedlings. I need to get my hands on some weed killer to improve my chances at interview. Or, maybe I don’t need weed killer. Perhaps the air of despondency and self-pity which occasionally infects those ‘accidental geriatricians ’ will be enough to dampen the spirits of the hardiest of seedling, thus improving my chances.

If I am the only person in the UK who wants to be an academic geriatrician, it will have its advantages; it will make me feel special, I’ll have less competition for grants/funding and I’ll be invited to speak at exotic conferences. There’ll be disadvantages too. I may feel misunderstood, be considered cavalier or be invited to speak at a BGS conference.

One of the key figures that inspired me into the so-called lonely world of academic geriatrics once tried out the academic world, completing a PhD. However he no longer has an interest in academia, but this is inconsequential; we do not necessarily need academics to inspire academia, we just need inspirational figures. Let’s encourage the BGS to hold a competition for trainees to nominate inspirational figures and invite the nominees to the BGS conference to share their inspirational magic; not just with the trainees but also with those ‘rooted’ consultants who have become despondent.

In the same vein, it is also not necessary to have academics specifically in geriatrics to inspire academia. For six months or for one year of their training, trainees could be appointed an academic mentor (from any discipline). This would not be to impose the trainee with tedious research tasks just to get their name on a paper, but to foster an environment in which trainees could develop an interest in research without committing to it.

‘General medicine has ceased to exist, therefore chose geriatrics. It wouldn’t be your first choice, but go for the next best thing.’⁴ We should stop encouraging young doctors to choose geriatrics for this reason. There are so many reasons to opt for geriatrics as a career, let’s stop selling it as leftovers. Evidence base is often lacking for older people’s care; we therefore have an exciting opportunity to build a unique, evidence based specialty upon its already robust, holistic and multidimensional foundations. Choose geriatrics not because it is generalist leftovers but because it is specifically an exciting, academically-developing field, within which are stimulating sub-specialities. Maybe then more academics will choose and stay in geriatrics.

If these reasons/suggestions are not enough to encourage more academic geriatricians, then we could go for a different approach. Sex sells⁵. I volunteer to be the BGS’s first salaried actor. I could inspire thousands by playing myself in Holby City. Being a junior academic gives me the required, exclusive skills; I once attended a public speaking course, taught by the Royal Shakespeare Company and held by the University. I am yet to convince my supervisor of its significance and this is my chance.

Leaving my inspirational sex-appeal to one side, one in five geriatricians will be surprised that more and more junior doctors are choosing geriatrics as a specialty. This is fantastic. All geriatricians in the future will be motivated, inspirational and accept change. The BGS conference will not have to be mandatory for trainees, because it will be oversubscribed. The ‘Inspirational Figure Award’ will be envied by other specialties and I will no longer be the only person in the UK who wants to be an academic geriatrician.

James Frith
Clinical Research Associate
Newcastle University

1 UKTV Gold. 2008.
2 Hearsay. 2009.
3 Gordon A. Chairs are therapeutic tools...but we need to convince trainees of this. BGS Newsletter 2009.
4 Uninspired geriatricians. 1965-2009.
5 Channel 4.

BGS Newsletter, March 2009
Issue 20 ISSN 1748-6343 20