Who Are Geriatricians?

Geriatricians are internists or family practice doctors trained specifically to care for older people. This care often involves managing many disorders and problems at once. Geriatricians have studied how the body changes as it ages, so that they can better distinguish when a symptom is due to a disorder rather than to aging itself. They evaluate older people in terms of social and emotional as well as physical needs. Then they can help older people live as independently as possible.

People who are most likely to benefit from seeing a geriatrician include those who are very frail, those who have many disorders, those who need to see several different types of health care practitioners, and those who take many drugs and are thus likely to experience side effects.