Veterans Care

VA conducts the nation’s largest coordinated education and training effort for health care professionals, with over 100,000 health profession students receiving clinical training in VA facilities annually, including the GRECCs and other geriatrics and extended care settings described above. VA’s creation of a physician fellowship program in geriatric medicine in the 1970s played a significant role in the later recognition of geriatric medicine as a specialty in the United States (Goodwin and Morley). In addition, VA has developed a wide range of other fellowships and specialty training in geriatrics for psychiatrists, dentists, nurses, psychologists, and other associated health professions. VA also pioneered the concept and practice of interdisciplinary team training in geriatrics. In addition to student training, VA also provides aging-related continuing education for professional staff from VA and the community on a regular basis.