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Geriatric Education Part I: Efficacy of a Mandatory Clinical Rotation for Fourth Year Medical Students
Author(s) -
Fields Suzanne D.,
Jutagir Rajendra,
Adelman Ronald D.,
Tideiksarr Rein,
Olson Ellen
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
journal of the american geriatrics society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.992
H-Index - 232
eISSN - 1532-5415
pISSN - 0002-8614
DOI - 10.1111/j.1532-5415.1992.tb01997.x
Subject(s) - geriatrics , medicine , curriculum , intervention (counseling) , scale (ratio) , medical education , clinical clerkship , test (biology) , semantic differential , medical school , family medicine , physical therapy , nursing , psychology , pedagogy , psychiatry , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , biology , developmental psychology
Objectives To describe the curriculum of a mandatory, fourth‐year geriatrics clerkship and assess its impact on medical students' knowledge of geriatric medicine and attitudes toward the elderly. Design One group, before/after trial. Setting Mount Sinai School of Medicine of the City University of New York. Participants Entire fourth year class of medical students ( n = 127). Intervention Four‐week‐long clinical geriatrics clerkship. Measurements Pre‐ and post‐rotation: test of knowledge; Aging Semantic Differential (ASD) attitude scale; Modified Maxwell‐Sullivan attitude scale; questionnaire. Main Results Seventy percent of students found the rotation to be educationally valuable; however, only one‐third of students would have taken the clerkship had it not been required. Mean geriatric knowledge score increased by 18.7% ( P < 0.001). Mean ASD attitude score did not change significantly (130.5 ± 19.2 pre‐rotation versus 126.6 ± 18.8 post‐rotation, P = 0.15), but students started the rotation with a neutral attitude. Over 90% of students agreed they would welcome elderly into their future practice. Conclusion If a national curricular goal is to improve medical students' knowledge of geriatric medicine, required rather than elective rotations may be in order.