What is a Geriatrician?

These days health problems are on the rise, especially among senior citizens.  Luckily, just as a pediatrician exists to care for and study the health of young children, a geriatrician exists to care for and study the health of senior citizens.  

• A geriatrician is a special doctor who examines the health of senior citizens.  A geriatrician also examines the process of aging and how it correlates to the health of senior citizens.


• As an elderly patient could visit a regular doctor, they would be able to receive general health care; however visiting a geriatrician would provide an elderly patient with the precise information and care that they need if an illness should be present.


• They take care of the special needs that each senior citizen may have such as the type of medicine their patient might need based on the type of illness they have and to what stage the illness has progressed.


• Geriatricians have gone through schooling at the most of two to three years and are certified to study in the field of health as it pertains to seniors.  They also have been trained in the field as well as being board certified in Internal Medicine or Family Medicine.


• They specialize in addressing certain issues that commonly affect senior citizens such as limited mobility, Alzheimer’s disease and arthritis and how the patient should be treated.   


• Geriatricians also are able to advise families on how to care for their elderly loved ones outside the office.


• Geriatricians make it a priority to each individual patient to not only study their health, but also study medical problems they may have had when they were younger, their everyday lifestyle and how they take care of themselves, and any history of medical problems throughout their family.