Qualifications
The road to a medical degree is a long and arduous one—but worth it if you want to be a caretaker of the world's elder-folk. Before applying to medical school, you're going to need to get yourself a bachelor's degree.
Careful though, getting into medical school is super competitive, and the folks over at the Association of American Medical Colleges suggest that in addition to getting a high G.P.A. (a 3.5 is what they consider competitive), you should also get involved in a few extracurricular activities. And get some volunteering or work experience under your belt. And take up a foreign language (source).
Once you've gotten your bachelor's degree you'll need to plug away for four more years of medical school. Afterwards you'll have to go through another four years of residency training (and remember: don't mess with the janitor), and then you'll have to get through a geriatric fellowship program where you'll specialize in the type of geriatric work you want to do. The last step to becoming a full-fledged geriatrician is to become certified through the American Board of Physician Specialties.
An elderly patient dealing with one health issue can be more susceptible to other complications than younger patients. For this reason, a geriatrician has to have a certain level of heightened sensitivity to those that they treat. They should be extra aware of any peripheral symptoms, both big and small.
It's also important that they have extra patience for their patients, especially since geriatricians might be dealing with people who are suffering from mental deterioration or just downright crankiness (a technical medical term). If you're the kind of person that gets huffy when the line at Starbucks is moving slowly, this may not be the field for you.