Introducing geriatric medicine to Nepal: an outline of a training programme and a model for the delivery of service.

here are many misconceptions regarding this specialty. Many general physicians do not appreciate the concept of a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment and are inclined to believe that geriatric medicine is no different from the practice of general medicine. It is not considered relevant to teach geriatric medicine to the undergraduates in medical schools in many developing countries with low life expectancy which have a small proportion of senior citizens in their population. More ever, geriatric medicine is perceived to be somehow connected to geriatric, i.e. senile patients, with unfortunate implications. It is essential to dispel these erroneous notions.