One of the impacts of population ageing will be an increasing need for a suitably trained medical workforce. This review of literature published in English and Spanish between January 2004 and September 2009 explores different approaches to geriatric training around the world. Eight options are considered: core competencies, establishing a geriatrics department, incentives through grants, curricular approaches, traditional and innovative training programs, clerkships and senior mentor programs. The review also briefly identifies global and regional academies and the approaches they have taken. Each of these methods appears to have potential, but clear recommendations are difficult given the lack of standardized core competencies, the limitation of most evaluation studies to short term effects and lack of published articles from some regions.