A Reflection on Aging: A Portfolio of Change in Attitudes Toward Geriatric Patients During a Clerkship Rotation

Abstract

The process of students' evaluation in medical schools has changed from a tutor-led evaluation system based on students' performance to a student-based evaluation that involves self-reflection and their level of change in skills and attitudes. At the McGill University Division of Geriatric Medicine, we developed an innovative system of evaluation known as the McGill Electronic Evaluation Portfolio (MEEP). The MEEP has proven to be a useful tool to motivate students' self-reflection and to induce students' change in attitudes toward aging and Geriatric Medicine. In this article, we exemplified a process of self-reflection by a medical student throughout his mandatory clerkship rotation in Geriatric Medicine. The article shows his change in attitudes toward his geriatric patients induced by his own experience and his interactions with tutors and members of the multidisciplinary team. In summary, the use of an electronic evaluation method may stimulate students' self-reflection and a positive change in attitudes toward aging and geriatrics.