Multisite geriatrics clerkship for fourth-year medical students: a successful model for teaching the Association of American Medical Colleges' core competencies.

Full Abstract

As the population ages, it is important that graduating medical students be properly prepared to treat older adults, regardless of their chosen specialty. To this end, the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and the John A. Hartford Foundation convened a consensus conference to establish core competencies in geriatrics for all graduating medical students. An ambulatory geriatric clerkship for fourth-year medical students that successfully teaches 24 of the 26 AAMC core competencies using an interdisciplinary, team-based approach is reported here. Graduating students (N=158) reported that the clerkship was successful at teaching the core competencies, as evidenced by positive responses on the AAMC Graduation Questionnaire (GQ). More than three-quarters (80-93%) of students agreed or strongly agreed that they learned the seven geriatrics concepts asked about on the GQ, which cover 14 of the 26 core competencies. This successful model for a geriatrics clerkship can be used in many institutions to teach the core competencies and in any constellation of geriatric ambulatory care sites that are already available to the faculty.

Author information

Author/s: Oates, Daniel J (DJ); Norton, Lisa E (LE); Russell, Matthew L (ML); Chao, Serena H (SH); Hardt, Eric J (EJ); Brett, Belle (B); Kimball, Patricia (P); Levine, Sharon A (SA);

Affiliation: Geriatrics Section, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. daniel.oates(-atsign-)bmc.org

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society (J Am Geriatr Soc), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Oct; vol 57 (issue 10) : pp 1917-24

Dates: Created 2009/10/07; Completed 2009/10/28;

PMID: 19807792, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/28/2009, IMS Date: )

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