Turkish Journal of
GERIATRICS

Hacettepe Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, İç Hastalıkları Anabilim Dalı, Ankara Geriatric medicine has evolved in accordance with the needs of an aging world population that is brought about by the 20th century. Because problems of a geriatric patient population are quite diverse and difficult to handle with the limited knowledge base of one medical specialty, geriatric medicine has adopted a multidisciplinary approach utilizing a comprehensive patient assessment with medical, social, psychological and ethical aspects and uniting the efforts of many disciplines including neurology, psychiatry, rehabilitation and social services in a team work. Geriatric medicine is yet to develop in many developing countries and departments of geriatric medicine are also being formed in Turkey. The goal of 'Healthy Aging' as set forward by WHO (World Health Organization) should also be a reality for Turkey and this requires the education of the society in general as well as many workers in disciplines dealing with medical, social, ethical and psychological problems of the elderly. This review organizes the information about 'the aging world and the health problems' in the first section, followed by the known status of geriatric medicine and education in Europe and United States and its future in Turkey. Keywords : Geriatrics, Aging, Health Education, Medicine, Turkey, United States of America, Europe