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The state of geriatric medicine fellowship match in the United States remains challenging. In 2024, only 169 fellows matched nationally, a decline from 174 fellows the previous year. Alarmingly, this is far below the number required to replace retiring geriatricians. Nationally, only 30% of fellowship programs successfully filled their spots, leaving approximately six out of every 10 positions unfilled.
Despite these national challenges, UPMC has made significant strides locally. The geriatric medicine fellowship program within the UPMC Division of Geriatric Medicine increased the number of fellowship positions available in 2024 and successfully filled all five spots.
“In Pennsylvania, there were only eight fellows who matched into internal medicine geriatrics positions. Our field is so small, candidates can basically choose where they want to train, and five of these eight candidates chose us. So, we are very proud,” says Karen Scandrett, MD, MPH, director of the Geriatric Medicine Fellowship Program.
UPMC’s program alone trains 36% of the state’s fellows. When combined with UPMC St. Margaret’s program, UPMC is set to train 50% of all geriatric medicine fellows in Pennsylvania this year.
The struggle to fill programs is not unique to Pennsylvania, which underscores the urgent need for continued innovation in recruitment strategies and training opportunities to address the growing demand for geriatric care.
Moving forward, UPMC remains committed to creating new training tracks and refining recruitment strategies to attract top talent to the field. The fellowship match success in 2024 demonstrates the potential impact of these efforts, and UPMC aims to continue leading by example in advancing geriatric medicine education.
“I think our success this past year is because we have a seasoned team and have developed a strong recruitment approach. We have been working hard to grow our own talent from among our excellent medical students and residents. We’re focusing attention ‘upstream’ on medical education and early clinical exposure to geriatrics. Our objective is to develop leaders in our field (educators, master clinicians, researchers, and innovators). This requires an investment in people over time,” says Dr. Scandrett.