Ijoined the American Geriatrics Society in the early ‘90s. Since 1992, I’ve chaired the Geriatric Medicine Test Committee that writes the test for the certificate of added qualifications in geriatrics for the American Board of Internal Medicine and American Board of Family Medicine. There were several AGS members on the committee, and I learned about the Society through them. I became interested after hearing about the opportunities for continuing education in geriatrics that AGS provided.

I practice in a rural area, and the opportunities for continuing education—especially in geriatrics—were fairly limited at that time. They are still somewhat limited today, though to a lesser extent, thanks to the Internet. About 80% of my patients are older, and I depend on AGS for a lot of my continuing education in the field of geriatrics.

By “continuing education opportunities” I mean not only the annual meeting but also the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Annals of Long-Term Care, Clinical Geriatrics, and the other publications that you get mailed or emailed to you when you’re a member that keep geriatrics at the forefront of your thinking. AGS is the one organization that focuses only on geriatrics, and I find it very helpful in this regard. I also find the AGS’ Foundation for Health in Aging’s educational offerings for patients very useful. I share the FHA’s brochures and publications, as well as the information on its website www.healthinaging.org with my patients and tell them about the website, which provides “continuing education” for patients.

I'm also very impressed by the AGS' and the FHA's other work on behalf of elderly individuals, including the FHA's free referral service that helps older people find geriatrics healthcare professionals in their areas. Since joining AGS, I’ve also come to appreciate its advocacy efforts and its work toward bettering care for the elderly population, fighting to maintain Medicare payment rates, and other important goals.

Over the years I've been involved in various AGS committees and initiatives. I was a member of the Clinical Practice Committee and was on the committee that wrote the second edition of AGS’ persistent pain guidelines. I'm on the editorial board of Annals of Long-Term Care. I was involved in developing, for the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), a CME video about caring for the elderly for family physicians, and I am AGS’ representative on an AAFP project to develop educational programs for family physicians in geriatrics. Sometimes I'm the only practicing physician on these projects. I’ve been in private practice for 31 years, and I do bring a somewhat different mindset to issues than academicians and people focused primarily on research. Opportunities to get involved in committees and projects like this are another benefit of membership. They’re very satisfying.

Membership in the AGS affords numerous benefits—free subscriptions to the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, Annals of Long-Term Care, Clinical Geriatrics, and other AGS publications, discounted admission to the AGS Annual Scientific Meeting, access to the AGS members-only website, opportunities to play leadership roles in the organization, and more.

Dr. Epplin is at the Litchfield Family Practice Center, Litchfield, IL, and is Clinical Professor, Department of Family Medicine, Southern Illinois School of Medicine, Springfield.