MIDCAREER FACULTY-DEVELOPMENT AWARDS IN GERIATRICS - DOES RETRAINING WORK

Objective: To evaluate the success of a mid-career physicians faculty retraining in geriatric medicine. Design: Written survey of participants in the John Hartford Foundation's Mid-Career Faculty Development Program (1984-1988). Setting: Four well established geriatric fellowship training programs. Participants: The 29 physicians who received John Hartford Foundation awards. Results: Twenty-one (87%) of 24 respondents felt that the fellowship year had either a ''major'' or ''significant'' impact on their careers, and 87% also spend a significant portion of their time training others in geriatrics. Conclusion: This 4-year experiment in mid-career faculty retraining in geriatrics suggests that this approach is a viable alternative to traditional 2-year fellowships for helping to reduce the shortage of faculty in geriatric medicine.