ABPS Geriatric Medicine case studies
ABPS Geriatric Medicine · Put your knowledge to work in context.
The ABPS Geriatric Medicine certification is a board credential offered by the American Board of Physician Specialties for physicians who want formal recognition of their competence in caring for older adults. It is most often pursued by primary care physicians, hospitalists, and family medicine or internal medicine physicians who have built a substantial geriatric component into their practice, as well as by physicians in related specialties whose patient panels skew older. The ABPS Geriatric Medicine case studies are 5 cases and about 2,795 words.
1Falls and anticoagulation in the very old
An 88-year-old woman with hypertension, permanent atrial fibrillation, and moderate Alzheimer dementia lives alone in a second-floor walk-up. Her CHA2DS2-VASc score is 5; she takes apixaban 5 mg twice daily.
557 words, about 3 min2Delirium vs. dementia in a hospitalized elder
A 79-year-old man with mild cognitive impairment (MMSE 24/30 three months ago) is admitted with a hip fracture after a mechanical fall. He is on postoperative day 2.
622 words, about 3 min3Deprescribing in advanced dementia with multimorbidity
An 84-year-old woman with advanced Alzheimer dementia (FAST 6d: doubly incontinent, needs help dressing, speaks few words) lives in a nursing home. Her daughter is her health care proxy.
580 words, about 3 min4Hyponatremia and polypharmacy in an older outpatient
A 76-year-old man with heart failure (EF 45%), hypertension, depression, and osteoarthritis presents with 2 weeks of fatigue, confusion, and one fall. Medications: furosemide 40 mg daily, lisinopril 10 mg, sertraline 50 mg, hydrochlorothiazide 25 mg, ibuprofen 400 mg three times daily as needed, and desmopressin?
546 words, about 3 min5Pain, opioids, and goals at end of life
An 81-year-old woman with metastatic pancreatic cancer and a prognosis of weeks is admitted to a hospice unit with severe abdominal pain. She is alert but weak, has a creatinine of 2.4 (eGFR about 20), and weighs 48 kg.
490 words, about 2 min