Positioning Medical Students for the Geriatric Imperative: Using Geriatrics to Effectively Teach Medicine

Abstract

Medical schools must consider innovative ways to ensure that graduates are prepared to care for the aging population. One way is to offer a geriatrics clerkship as an option for the fulfillment of a medical school's internal medicine rotation requirement. The authors' purpose was to evaluate the geriatrics clerkship's impact on internal medicine knowledge and medical student attitudes toward older adults. Mean National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) internal medicine subject exam scores from geriatrics and internal medicine students who matriculated from 2005 to 2011 were compared using student's t-tests. Academic performance was controlled for using the United States Medical Licensing Exam Step 1 exam scores. Focus groups were conducted to explore student attitudes. Geriatrics students performed just as well on the NBME exam as their internal medicine colleagues, but reported greater comfort with elder care. Geriatrics students also reported more positive attitudes toward older adults. Completing an internal medicine requirement using a geriatrics clerkship is an innovation for medical school curriculum structure.