Missing M.D.s

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    A handful of medical schools have begun to boost their geriatric programs, despite the lack of student demand. (One medical resident said he never took a class in geriatrics because "old people are gross.") Cefalu started an expansive program at Louisiana State University that he hopes will act as a model for other schools. But when Greg Sachs, chief of geriatrics at the University of Chicago, launched a geriatrics fellowship in 1986, only a few young doctors entered the two-year program, in fits and starts, and interest dried up altogether in the mid-'90s. This year Sachs has just a single fellow.

    When the legions of baby boomers begin to retire, many will need the kind of geriatricians who have the skills to save people like Bzdok and Richert. Jennifer Moore, 30, hopes to be such a doctor. Inspired to go into geriatrics by watching her grandmother take care of her grandfather after he suffered several strokes, Moore followed med school with a two-year fellowship in geriatrics. But now she's having trouble finding a satisfying job. "How can I provide good care in the manner in which I was trained," she asks, "when all I get is 10 minutes with each patient?" Unwilling to compromise her standards, Moore is looking to teach geriatric medicine instead. Now the question is whether she can find some students.

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