Week In Review

#AGS25 will address the educational needs of geriatrics professionals from all disciplines, offering continuing education sessions, including invited symposia, workshops, and meet-the-expert sessions! Check out an exclusive sneak-peek of one of our highly anticipated sessions:

• Redefining Weight Wisdom: Pioneering Approaches to Obesity Care (5/9; 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM ET)

Moderator John A. Batsis, MD, DABOM, FACP, FTOS, FGSA, AGSF will lead a discussion on obesity assessment and management in older adults. The prevalence of obesity in the United States is growing, including in older adults, but it can be challenging to determine which older adults should be recommended weight loss. The geriatric 5Ms are widely used in geriatric assessment and can be applied to obesity assessments in older adults. Through utilizing the 5Ms, we can determine what may be contributing to obesity, and how to target a multifaceted whole-person treatment approach, including for underserved populations. Presenters will review how to apply the 5Ms of geriatrics to obesity assessment; incretin medications in the management of obesity and diabetes in older adults, as well as other risks and benefits; and how to manage obesity in underserved populations.

Register today for the 2025 AGS Annual Scientific Meeting

Please join us on Wednesday, February 12, 4:00 pm ET for our webinar: Unlocking the Value of Geriatricians: Data Snapshot from AGS/ADGAP Benchmarking Surveys, by registering here. In this webinar, we will review data captured for Calendar Year (CY) 2023, including compensation and productivity information, and learn how to access the updated surveys this year. Your participation is essential to building this rich data asset that helps geriatrics academic programs and AGS members learn and convey their value. Click here for more information about the AGS/ADGAP Benchmarking Surveys.  

The article titled, Updated Geriatrics Competencies for Graduating Medical Students: Training Physicians to Provide Age-Friendly Care, is now published in Academic Medicine. It introduces the 2021 updated competencies in geriatrics for graduating medical students, developed by an AGS/ADGAP work group. For more details on these competencies, visit the ADGAP website.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking public input on the impact of ageism in health care. This effort aims to better understand and quantify how ageism affects care quality, including aspects related to safety, timeliness, patient-centeredness, equitable distributions, and care outcomes, particularly across different population groups. AHRQ is also looking for innovative strategies and programs to address and mitigate ageism to improve health outcomes for older adults.

Comments are due by Saturday, March 15, 2025. For details on submitting comments, visit the Federal Register notice or contact Jose Plascencia Jimenez at 301-427-1364 or Jose.Plascenciajimenez@ahrq.hhs.gov.

Beginning January 1, 2025, Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA) participants will have five minutes to answer each question—a 25% increase from the previous four-minute limit. This change reflects feedback from physicians and specialty societies, as well as survey findings that highlighted the need for additional time per question. The extended time aims to provide a less stressful and more satisfying experience while maintaining assessment validity and security. This update also aligns with the amount of time provided on longitudinal assessments offered by the American Board of Family Medicine and the American Board of Pediatrics. Learn more about this LKA enhancement and others, here.

It is not too late to apply for the AIRE Medicine-Geriatrics Integrated Residency and Fellowship (Combined Med-Geri Pathway). Applications are due Fri., Jan. 17, 2025. This application cycle is for trainees starting in July 2026. The Combined Med-Geri Pathway provides an alternative pathway for training geriatricians by integrating the clinical experiences required in a geriatrics fellowship across the internal medicine or family medicine residency and meeting geriatric competencies in an innovative four-year (48 month) program. If your program intends to apply, please email Jen Sicherman at jcross@americangeriatrics.org to request the application materials.

Finishing touches to the new and expanded GRS12 are underway with an expected release date of January 29th! 

The soon-to-be published GRS12 will include:

• 74 chapters covering the prevailing evaluation and management strategies in geriatric medicine, including 2 brand new topics: History of Geriatrics and Health Equity and Aging.
• Recent research findings and strength-of-evidence (SOE) ratings for key diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic information
• References that allow you the reader to pursue topics in greater depth
• 350 case-oriented, multiple-choice questions with answers, critiques, and references
• 115 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ and 115 ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) points for those who successfully pass the self-assessment portion of the GRS12
• GRS Mobile App (to be released at a later date)
• GRS12 Flashcard App with over 800 additional short-form study questions (to be released at a later date)
• Self-Assessment Bonus Pack with an additional 75 case-oriented multiple-choice questions with answers and critiques (to be released at a later date)

Pre-Order Yours Today and be the first to access the new GRS12!

The new GRS12 allows you to:

• Study on-the-go with mobile app and online access
• Hone skills in topics of your choice using customized practice tests
• Track your mastery over time with visual topic analyses
• Map content to the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Geriatric Medicine Certification Exam Blueprint

Work at your own pace with an extended three-year subscription

The Society of Critical Care Medicine’s (SCCM) 2025 Critical Care Congress, to be held February 23-25, 2025, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida will feature a new full-day Geriatrics Track on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, designed for those passionate about enhancing care for older adults. Clinicians will find sessions highlighting care of geriatric patients in the ICU, including tips for creating an age-friendly ICU and special considerations in older patients with traumatic injuries.

The Geriatrics Track Thought Leader Session will include the prestigious Norma J. Shoemaker Honorary Lecture by Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, President of The John A. Hartford Foundation who will present on “Why the 4Ms Approach to Critical Care Improves Quality: Lessons From the Age-Friendly Health Systems Movement."  

AGS members who plan on attending can use the coupon code 50AGSCON25 for 50% off their registration. To use the coupon code:

• Register online at sccm.org/congress2025.
• Enter the coupon code at checkout to receive the discount.
• The coupon expires on February 25, 2025.

For more info on the new full day geriatrics track, click here. 

The AGS Opportunities for Investigators resource serves as a central location for geriatrics and aging-related opportunities such as grant funding, presentation or publication submissions, travel stipends for scholarly meetings, networking events, comment periods, and in-person or virtual meetings and webinars. An upcoming opportunity we'd like to highlight include:

• The Cancer and Aging Research Group (CARG) Infrastructure Grant is requesting applications by January 18th for two pilot projects in the field of cancer and aging research.

The MyAGSOnline Events Calendar is a valuable resource to discover and register for upcoming events, webinars, and other opportunities. We'd like to highlight the following upcoming events: 

• The Center for Medicare Advocacy (CMA) will host a complimentary second webinar focused on the Medicare Programs: Appeal Rights for Certain Changes in Patient Status final rule on Wednesday, January 22 from 2-3:30 PM ET. 
   
• The 21st European Geriatric Medicine Society Congress will take place in Reykjavik, Iceland, from September 24th to 26th, 2025. The theme for the 2025 Congress, “New Landscapes in Geriatric Medicine” reflects the evolving challenges and innovations in the care of older adults in today’s dynamic world. The congress program will offer something for everyone, including clinicians, researchers, educators, trainees, and healthcare service developers. Symposia and Abstract submissions are now open. Learn more about submissions here.

Have an opportunity or event you'd like to see listed? Email the details to Jennifer Fisher at jfisher@americangeriatrics.org