Geriatric Medicine Recertification Completed

I am happy to announce that I passed the test.  I am referring to the geriatrics examination given by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).  This means that I am recertified as a Board Certified Specialist in Geriatric Medicine. Recertification is required...

Art, Dementia, and Elder Abuse: The Sad Story of Peter Max

Back in high school I was a big fan of Peter Max.   His work was everywhere – on the cover of Life Magazine, on album covers for The Beatles, and on psychedelic day-glow posters at the head shop on Journal Square in Jersey City, the town where I grew up.  I remember...

Pressure Injuries and the Human Warranty

In this post I will discuss two recent articles that together make the case that pressure injuries might be a manifestation of a human biological warranty. The first is Unavoidable Pressure Injury: State of the Science and Consensus Outcomes, published in the Journal...

Prime Time Television, Disease, and Death

I recently experienced the phenomenon of cognitive dissonance during a commercial on the evening world news.  It was an advertisement promoting a diabetes medicine that showed people with diabetes at a barbecue, cooking and dancing.  How different this was from my day...

Speaking of Art and Aging at MOMA

It was my pleasure and honor to speak today at the Museum of Modern Art in a lecture entitled “Picturing Aging: The View From a Geriatrician.”  The talk presented my portfolio of images of aging, and discussed the relationship between art and growing old.  It was...

The Geriatric Workforce and Quality of Care

What could be less intuitive than a shrinking medical specialty in the face of surging demand? A recent New York Times article discussed the growing shortage of geriatricians in America. Despite the fact that there are more older Americans than any time in history,...