The American Geriatrics Society (AGS) is a nationwide not-for-profit association of geriatrics health care professionals, research scientists, and other concerned individuals dedicated to improving the health, independence, and quality of life of all older people. The Society, through its Continuing Professional Education Program, seeks to increase the geriatrics expertise of health care professionals who care for older adults by providing high quality educational programs that address topics that are integral to the care of older adults.
The Society has set forth the following goals for its professional education programming:
- To increase the number of healthcare professionals who are knowledgeable about and participate in the clinical care of older adults and aging research.
- To conduct education programs for all professionals that promote better understanding of the aging process and its unique clinical and research challenges
- To conduct education programs that address the impact of ageism, ableism, classism, homophobia, racism, sexism, xenophobia, and other forms of bias and discrimination on healthcare access, quality, and outcomes for older adults and their caregivers.
- To conduct education programs that contribute to the professional development of learners in their roles as clinicians, educators, researchers, and health system leaders.
The Society, through its Continuing Professional Education Program, seeks to increase the geriatrics expertise of healthcare professionals who care for older adults and who conduct aging research by providing high quality educational programs that address topics that are integral to the care of older adults and aging research.
The Professional Education Executive Committee (PEEC) oversees the Society’s Continuing Professional Education program. This interprofessional group is responsible for ensuring that the continuing education programs that are directly provided or jointly provided by the Society are conducted in compliance with the standards of the relevant accrediting agencies, including the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education and the American Medical Association. The PEEC sets overall policy for the Society’s Continuing Professional Education Program and oversees all aspects of implementation, including appropriate needs assessment and evaluation of programs sponsored by the Society. The PEEC reports to the AGS Board of Directors.
The content of the AGS’ Continuing Professional Education program is focused on improving healthcare professional knowledge of and ability to treat the common diseases and disorders of older adults and to the advancement of aging research and the translation of research to clinical practice. Specific topics on which the Society’s educational programming is focused include:
- General Principles of Aging
(demography of aging, biology of aging, psychosocial aspects of aging, pharmacology and pharmacotherapy, legal and ethical issues, and healthcare finance) - Approach to the Older Patient
(hospital-based and community-based geriatric care, peri-operative care, nursing home care, transitions of care, multimorbidity, geriatric assessment, preventive geriatrics, physical activity, rehabilitation, palliative care, and complementary and alternative medicine, culturally competent care, systems of care, pain, mistreatment of older adults, home care, caregiving, LGBTQ+ care) - Geriatric Syndromes
(dementia and behavior problems in dementia, delirium, urinary incontinence, hearing and vision impairment, malnutrition, eating and feeding problems, frailty, osteoporosis and osteomalacia, falls and gait disturbances, dizziness and syncope, pressure ulcers, and sleep disorders) - Geriatric Psychiatry
(depression and other mood disorders, anxiety disorders, schizophrenia and psychotic disorders, personality/somatoform disorders, addictions, and intellectual disabilities) - Common Geriatric Diseases, Disorders, and Healthcare Concerns
(cardiovascular diseases/disorders, hypertension, musculoskeletal diseases/disorders, back pain, diseases/disorders of the foot, neurologic diseases/disorders, infectious diseases, respiratory diseases/disorders, oral diseases/disorders, gastrointestinal diseases/disorders, endocrine/metabolic disorders, diabetes, , gynecologic diseases/disorders, disorders of sexual function, hematologic diseases/disorders, oncology, renal diseases/disorders, prostate disease, dermatologic diseases/disorders) - Aging Research
The Society will also work with organizations that have developed educational programming in other content areas as long as the need for such programming is supported by an appropriate needs assessment.
The Society also sponsors educational programs that are aimed at improving the knowledge and teaching skills of health professionals involved in training older adults.
Validation of Content
Continuing Professional Education Programming regarding clinical recommendations must be based on evidence that is accepted within the profession of medicine as adequate justification for their use. All scientific research referred to, reported or used in support or justification of a patient care recommendation must conform to the generally accepted standards of experimental design, data collection and analysis.
Types of Programming
The Society offers both enduring and live Continuing Professional Education programs. The two major, on-going continuing professional education activities of the Society are: the Annual Scientific Meeting and the Geriatrics Review Syllabus, a self-assessment program in geriatrics. The AGS also offers seminars, workshops, audiotapes, internet CME, and other self-assessment programs on specific topics.
The audience for the Society’s Continuing Professional Education Program is healthcare professionals who care for older adults.
Expected Result of the Program
Through its programs in Continuing Professional Education activities, the Society seeks to improve the competence of healthcare professionals to provide quality healthcare to older adults. We do this by providing balanced, evidence-based content in order to enhance participants’ competence (knowledge and skills) as healthcare professionals. We expect that participants in our programs will integrate educational resources into their clinical, research and professional practices. We also expect that participants will apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired from our CME activities to improve their clinical performance and ultimately impact patient outcomes.