Establishing A New Geriatric Teaching Programme For Undergraduate Medical Students

Introduction The Department of Geriatric and Stroke Medicine in our hospital supports undergraduate clinical teaching and has strong links with other universityaffiliated teaching hospitals. We recently reconfigured our clinical curriculum in geriatric medicine with the aim of pursuit of excellence in education of undergraduate students. Our programme aims to develop the key knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviours which would be expected of all graduates and forms the basis for developing a future interest in the speciality of geriatric and stroke medicine. METHODS The programme is comprised of a one week didactic lecture series delivered by local and visiting geriatricians, psychiatrists of old age and allied health professionals. Students also participate in a two-week small group clinical rotation in Elderly Care. The clinical rotation is delivered in a structured manner with dedicated teaching components. Teaching modalities include formal lectures, teaching ward rounds, small group tutorials, case-based problem solving exercises, and practical sessions with multidisciplinary team members in an affiliated stroke rehabilitation unit. Learning outcomes for time spent with multidisciplinary team members, incorporating speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and social workers, included appreciation of inter-disciplinary work, impact of social history from admission through to discharge and importance of supporting communication. RESULTS Feedback questionnaires were distributed to the students. 74.85% of students rated the teaching components as “excellent” or “very good”. Student comments highlighted their enjoyment with the increased level of involvement with the clinical team and their exposure to the multidisciplinary team approach to patient care. DISCUSSION Our experience with this programme has demonstrated the feasibility of aligning structured teaching components with a clinical rotations and delivering multidisciplinary teaching in a clinical setting. Increasing student interaction with the clinical team and their level of involvement with all aspects of patient care has met with positive reviews from the students.