An Aging Nation: Clinical Updates in Geriatrics at APA

Rajesh Tampi, MD, chair of psychiatry at Creighton Medical School and medical director for the behavioral health service line at CHI Health in Omaha, Nebraska, previewed 4 presentations he is scheduled to deliver at the APA annual meeting.

Tampi described his primary contribution to the board review course as a comprehensive overview of geriatric psychiatry, covering depressive disorders, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorders, psychotic disorders, substance use disorders, and sleep disturbances, with emphasis on current treatment approaches. He also contributed to a separate longitudinal course titled "Updates in Geriatric Psychiatry," offered annually at the APA meeting, in which 4 faculty members each address a major diagnostic category in older adults. Tampi was responsible for the sessions on bipolar disorder and psychotic disorders, covering epidemiology, neurobiology, assessment, and treatment, while colleagues address depressive and anxiety disorders.

The fourth presentation focuses on the career trajectories of international medical graduates in psychiatry. Tampi described his own path to becoming the chair of an academic psychiatry department as a central thread of that session, noting that it offered both educational and professional development value to attendees navigating similar journeys.

Tampi situated the clinical content of his geriatric psychiatry sessions within a pressing demographic reality, noting that by 2035 the number of adults over age 65 in the United States will exceed the number of individuals under 18, and that the proportion of Americans aged 65 and older was projected to rise from approximately 17% currently to nearly 24% by 2060.^1,2 He framed this trajectory as a compelling rationale for expanding clinical expertise in geriatric psychiatry.

Dr Tampi is professor and chair of the Department of Psychiatry at Creighton University School of Medicine and Catholic Health Initiatives Health Behavioral Health Services. He is also an adjunct professor of psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Psychiatric Times editorial board.

References

1. The graying of America: more older adults than kids by 2035. US Census Bureau. March 13, 2018. Accessed May 13, 2026. https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2018/03/graying-america.html

2. Fact sheet: aging in the United States. Population Reference Bureau. January 9, 2024. Accessed May 13, 2026. https://www.prb.org/resource/fact-sheet-aging-in-the-united-states/