Geriatrics is the branch of medicine that focuses on health care of the elderly. It aims to promote health and to prevent and treat diseases and disabilities in older adults.

Geriatrics was separated from internal medicine as a separate entity as pediatrics separation from adult internal medicine and the same as neonatology separation from pediatrics.

There is no set age at which patients may be under the care of a geriatrician. Rather, this is determined by a profile of the typical problems that geriatrics focuses on.