Geriatric CME: Why Your CME Program Needs More Older Adult Care Topics

Older adults are a growing share of nearly every clinical population, making geriatric care an increasingly important part of CME planning. According to the Administration for Community Living, the number of Americans age 65 and older is expected to grow from nearly 58 million in 2022 to about 78 million by 2040. Yet the American Geriatrics Society reports that only about 7,500 physicians are board certified in geriatrics. Because primary care physicians, hospitalists, surgeons, emergency physicians, nurses, and pharmacists provide most care for older patients, CME programs need practical education on polypharmacy, dementia, falls, pain, and goals-of-care conversations. Hospitals also report age-friendly care measures to CMS, and research shows that regular CME is effective. A recurring series of case-based geriatric sessions can address clinician practice gaps while supporting organizational quality goals.

The following geriatric and older adult care topics have recently been selected for CME programs and can be tailored to primary care, hospital-based, interdisciplinary, or specialty audiences. Lectures are presented by expert faculty from leading academic medical centers.

1. Geriatric Polypharmacy
2. Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias
3. Safe Mobility and Fall Prevention for Older Adults
4. Having “What Matters” Conversations in the Primary Care Setting
5. Caregiver Burden and Support
6. Managing Pain for Older Adults
7. Practical Aspects of Palliative Care
8. Deprescribing in Geriatrics
9. Evidence-Based Health Screening for Older Adults
10. How to Frame and Conduct Goals of Care Discussions
11. How to Perform a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment
12. Malnutrition: Evaluation and Management in Adult and Geriatric Patients
13. Delirium in Acutely Hospitalized Geriatric Patients
14. Dementia Care and Support in the Outpatient Setting
15. Nutrition and Aging in the Geriatric Patient
16. Recognizing and Responding to Elder Abuse, Neglect, and Financial Exploitation
17. Common Eye Disorders in Adults and the Elderly
18. Age and Medically Related Driving Impairment
19. Chronic Pain and Substance Use in the Older Adult
20. Frailty and Sarcopenia: Screening and Intervention

Contact our office to discuss your audience, practice gaps, and preferred format, or to book an expert speaker for your next CME meeting. Call 714-505-4777 or email info@speakersnetwork.com.

How do we know this is a problem?

Administration for Community Living. 2023 Profile of Older Americans. US Department of Health and Human Services; 2024. https://acl.gov/aging-and-disability-in-america/data-and-research/profile-older-americans

American Geriatrics Society. Current number of board-certified geriatricians by state. Updated July 2022. https://www.americangeriatrics.org 

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. FY 2025 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule (CMS-1808-F). Fed Regist. 2024.

Cervero RM, Gaines JK. The impact of CME on physician performance and patient health outcomes: an updated synthesis of systematic reviews. J Contin Educ Health Prof. 2015;35(2):131-138. doi:10.1002/chp.21290