<strong>Devyani Misra, MD, MS,</strong>  is an Assistant Professor in Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School. She is dual board certified in geriatrics medicine and rheumatology. Her clinical and research interests lay at the intersection of geriatrics and rheumatology, namely functional limitation and frailty in older adults with osteoarthritis.

NEJM Resident360 > Rotation Prep > Geriatrics > Geriatrics

Introduction

<div class="onepub-jats-front" id="10.1056/r360.i000934-front"><div class="onepub-jats-metadata two-column table"><div class="onepub-jats-row"><div class="onepub-jats-cell"><div class="onepub-jats-metadata-group"></div></div></div></div><div class="onepub-jats-metadata centered"></div></div><div class="onepub-jats-body" id="10.1056/r360.i000934-body"><div class="onepub-jats-section-container"><div class="onepub-introduction"><div class="onepub-jats-main-title"><h6 class="onepub-jats-title introduction">Introduction</h6></div><div class="onepub-jats-section-title"><h1 class="onepub-jats-title"><b>Introduction</b></h1></div><p>With improvements in modern medicine and increased life span, it is important that all clinicians are equipped to care for older adults. While aging is not a disease, normal physiologic changes that accompany aging make older adults more vulnerable to many conditions. Along with medical conditions, functional status and psychosocial supports should be considered when caring for this population.</p><p>Following a report by the Institute of Medicine in the 1970s outlining the needs of older adults, the field of geriatrics was born. Geriatric care requires interprofessional collaboration. To understand what a geriatrician does, one needs to think of the geriatric <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6347324/" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">5Ms</a>:</p><ul class="onepub-jats-list-unordered"><li><p><b>Mind:</b> mentation, dementia, delirium, depression</p></li><li><p><b>Mobility:</b> impaired gait and balance, fall-injury prevention,&nbsp;daily functioning</p></li><li><p><b>Medications:</b> polypharmacy, deprescribing; optimal prescribing; adverse medication effects and medication burden</p></li><li><p><b>Multicomplexity:</b> multimorbidity; complex biopsychosocial situations</p></li><li><p><b>Matters most:</b>&nbsp;individualized meaningful health-outcome goals and care preferences<tt><br class="onepub-jats-br"></tt><tt><br class="onepub-jats-br"></tt></p></li></ul><p><b>The topics covered are organized as follows:</b></p><ul class="onepub-jats-list-unordered"><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/geriatrics/falls/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Falls</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/geriatrics/frailty/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Frailty</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/geriatrics/dementia/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Dementia</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/geriatrics/delirium/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Delirium</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/geriatrics/medication-management/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Medication Management</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/geriatrics/geriatric-assessment-transition-of-care/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Geriatric Assessment</a><tt><br class="onepub-jats-br"></tt><tt><br class="onepub-jats-br"></tt></p></li></ul><p><b>Other important topics related to geriatrics are covered in the following rotation guides:</b></p><ul class="onepub-jats-list-unordered"><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/palliative-care/introduction" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Palliative Care</a></p></li><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/patient-communication/delivering-bad-news/core-concepts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Delivering Bad News</a>&nbsp;(Patient Communication)</p></li><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/critical-care/sedation-and-delirium/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">ICU Delirium</a> (Critical Care)</p></li><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/mental-health/depression/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Depression</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/mental-health/anxiety/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Anxiety</a> (Mental Health)</p></li><li><p><a href="https://resident360.nejm.org/rotation-prep/oncology/symptom-rx/fast-facts" class="onepub-link-primary" target="_blank">Symptom Management</a> (Oncology)</p></li></ul><p>&nbsp;</p><div class="onepub-grayBox"><p>This rotation guide was developed by a collaborative team of contributors, including:</p><p><b>Writers:</b> Amanda Fernandes, MD; Ramya Ramaswami MBBS MRCP(UK) MPH; Michael Mi, MD; James Yeh, MD (NEJM Fellows)<tt><br class="onepub-jats-br"></tt><b>Peer Reviewers:</b> Michelle Jose-Kampfner, MD; Mousumi Sircar, MD; and Bruce Bonnell, MD <tt><br class="onepub-jats-br"></tt><b>Section Expert:</b> Devyani Misra, MD, MS<tt><br class="onepub-jats-br"></tt><b>Senior Editor:</b> Ole-Petter Hamnvik, MB BCh BAO, MMSc<tt><br class="onepub-jats-br"></tt><b>Last Updated:</b> July 2022 by Chelsea Wong, MD</p></div></div></div></div>