According to an article in the March 2022 issue of the Journal of Applied Gerontology, by 2060 the number of older adults (age 65+) in the U.S. is projected to be more than 98 million, up from 37.2 million in 2006. The American Geriatric Society reports a 45% rise in the demand for geriatricians through 2025 without an adequate workforce supply. Hence, the number of health care professions students entering the geriatric workforce must be increased to meet the imminent and complex needs of this growing population. To attract them, an understanding of the factors influencing career preference and what may prevent students from pursuing geriatric careers is necessary. A mixed methods study design of 864 students from eight healthcare professions (dietetics, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant, physical therapy, social work, and speech-language pathology) is described that characterizes social factors that ultimately may influence career choice. The mean age of respondents was 24.0 ± 3.7 years. The majority were female (70.3%), White (63.5%), and represented graduate-level studies (80.3%). Over two-thirds of respondents reported prior experience with older adults through paid work (37.0%) or volunteer work (32.4%). Over half (56.9%) agreed or strongly agreed that they had a close relationship with their parents or grandparents.
Altogether, the results of this study demonstrated students’ variable and paradoxical views of aging and older persons. It may be that students are unable to process and resolve the contradiction on their own, suggesting that earlier intervention with exposure, mentoring, and modeling via positive educator and preceptor attitudes may be necessary to generate positive attitudes. Geriatric training and education programs are critical avenues to correct misperceptions, quell ageism, and address the current shortage in the geriatrician workforce. This investigation provides rich narrative examples of students’ perceptions and understanding of the aging process, as well as myths and misconceptions of aging and older individuals that can be used to inform geriatric curricula across multiple health professions training and education programs.