Welcome to the first attempt in the history of geriatrics to develop a research agenda specifically aimed at enhancing the quality of care of the elderly patients who are cared for by specialists in surgical disciplines and related medical fields.

We hope that this Geriatrics-for-Specialists Web site will be useful to specialists who are interested in contributing to the base of evidence in support of geriatrics practice in their respective disciplines. Specifically, we hope it will lead to increased research activity in the geriatrics-in-specialties field, attract new researchers to this field, and increase the number of research grants submitted and the amount of funding allocated to this field by major granting agencies.

Included on the site are various resources intended to promote these goals:

• The full text of the research agenda, including supplements updating the original agenda. The original agenda and the supplements are also published in book form by AGS for the Geriatrics-for-Specialists project. The table of contents for the original agenda and its supplements appears to the left in the green panel. Each chapter is focused on a particular specialty or on cross-cutting issues that are relevant to all fields. We recommend reading the Introduction first before any of the topical chapters for descriptions of the methods employed in the literature searches and explanations of the levels assigned to individual agenda items.
• A hyperlinked index to the original research agenda as well as its supplements is accessible both from the green panel to the left and from the Index tab at the top of the page. The panel and the tabs remain in view from any page in the agenda; Users interested in particular topics within a specialty will find this approach to the contents to be most efficient.
• Relevant databases of interest to researches are listed on a page accessible from the Databases tab. Many of these databases are referred to in specific agenda items.
• Off-site information about the American Geriatrics Society and The John A. Hartford Foundation, cosponsors of the Geriatrics-for-Specialists project, is available from their tabs at the top of the page. A tab for the Geriatrics-for-Specialists project links to the project pages on the AGS site, where current information about project membership, section meetings, and awards programs is available.

Feedback about this site or about the Geriatrics-for-Specialists project is most welcome. Please send e-mail messages to eharanas@americangeriatrics.org.

To David H. Solomon, MD, MACP, whose dedication to older patients and to extending the knowledge of geriatrics into surgical and related medical specialities is unbounded and inspiring