Diana Kuščenko, a first-year resident in geriatrics at Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine. Personal archive photo.
A geriatrician is a doctor who treats older people to help them overcome chronic and acute health problems. Older people's illnesses often require the expertise of a highly qualified doctor, with special medical skills that are patient-centred rather than disease-centred. Even small improvements in health or functional status can significantly improve the well-being and quality of life of older people and their families. Diana Kuščenko, a first-year resident in geriatrics at Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine, shared her insights on the specialty of geriatrics on the blog of the Early-Career Geriatricians Initiative. This blog is currently the only online platform where young geriatricians from all over the world can share their knowledge and insights.
Diana Kuščenko: geriatrics in Lithuania is not yet known to everyone
After 6 years of intense medical studies, students must pursue the career path that seems most engaging and exciting for him. My choice was geriatric medicine. When my friends learned that my future specialty would be geriatrics, I saw the surprise on their faces, and that was followed by questions: what are geriatricians and what do they treat? I explained that geriatricians are doctors who specialise in treating elderly people. Their next question was what the difference is between geriatricians, general practitioners, and doctors of internal medicine.
This is a new specialty in the field of medicine, and it is not very popular in Lithuania. Everyone knows that an orthopaedist-traumatologist helps people with broken bones and a rheumatologist helps people who have experienced long periods of joint pain, but few people understand when it is necessary to contact a geriatrician.
Medical workers living abroad say that the need for doctors who specialise in treating the elderly is growing and that there is a lack of geriatricians. In Lithuania, this profession is only beginning to be incorporated into the health care system, and so far the most developed aspect of the field is probably palliative care. People complain that access to their family doctor is difficult due to a lack of facilities, and family doctors find it difficult to cope with excessive workloads. Furthermore, older adults are often slower and take more time, so medical examinations last longer than the defined appointment time. The most interesting thing is that most of the patients regularly visiting family doctors are elderly people who could seek help from a geriatrician and receive a more specific and comprehensive examination, assessment and treatment. This would provide family doctors with more time to see other patients.
Geriatrics, associative photo. Canva.com photo
The coming years promise big changes for geriatricians
Major changes are on the horizon for geriatricians in Lithuania: there are plans to establish some geriatric centres where seniors will be able to receive specialised care. This is the most relevant in small cities, as most patients live there. Information about newly established (or soon-to-be established) geriatric departments in hospitals can be found in the news media. Moreover, a lot of clinics having many elderly patients have begun geriatric consultations. In my opinion, seniors would actively seek help from a geriatrician if it were possible to register directly, without a referral from a family doctor, for concerns or illnesses.
So, what is the future of this specialty? I think that this is a vital specialty in Lithuania, because society is ageing and comprehensive healthcare focussing on elderly patients is needed. Will it be highly popular among medical students? I doubt it. So far, there is a lack of information about the specialty, and students are deterred from choosing the field by the thought of “having to work with old people for the rest of their lives”. It is my opinion that it will be possible to draw some conclusions regarding the future of geriatrics in Lithuania in 3–4 years, when all the planned geriatric services have been put into place and are functioning properly. All in all, I think that the specialty of geriatrics will be in high demand and will help many seniors improve their wellbeing.