Administered Palmore's Facts on Aging Quizzes I and II and Facts on Aging Mental Health Quiz as single test to third-year medical students before and after their six-week Community Health and Family Medicine clerkship. Clerkship contributed to small improvement in students' knowledge about aged; net bias scores decreased from pretest to posttest.…

This paper provides insight into the reasons underlying medical students' interest in geriatrics. Semi-structured interviews, informed by attitude theory, were conducted with first-year medical students who indicated that they were not interested in geriatric medicine and those who indicated that they were moderately to very interested in…

This paper describes development, implementation, and evaluation strategies of a longitudinal geriatric curriculum, the Senior Mentor Program (SMP). The rationale for exposing undergraduate medical students to healthy, community-dwelling older adults is to use the relationship and activities as vehicles for improving knowledge of aging and…

Suggests a new comprehensive health care relationship between patient and physician to educate the patient to understand mental and physical health and disease and how he can protect his own health. (IR)

Interdisciplinary health care training is advocated by numerous government and philanthropic organizations. Educators in the health professions are increasingly offering training in interdisciplinary health care in a variety of contexts, including ambulatory settings. This paper describes a three-year program to teach skills in interdisciplinary…

Focuses on the supports and impediments inherent in the provision of geriatric medical care by family physicians. Addresses providing a good educational program for medical students and residents who will be caring for the elderly and developing uniform access to quality care for the elderly, the community, and community institutions. (Author/ABB)

A pilot study is described that was designed to make medical students' early professional contact with the elderly occur with those who are well enough to function as independently living individuals. The students felt the teaching value of the experience equaled or exceeded that of their experience with hospitalized patients. (MLW)

Offers 23 summaries of innovative approaches to medical education, presented in four categories: applications of the World Wide Web, curricular change, geriatrics and gerontology in medical education, and support for medical school faculty. (EV)

In response to aging patient demographics and a call for increased formal geriatric training in medical schools, a community volunteer geriatric mentor program, Bridging Generations, was developed to shape attitudes of medical students caring for the elderly. The geriatric mentor experience provided students with unique insight into the challenges…

To evaluate whether formally trained geriatricians remain in the field of Geriatrics, and to determine their job satisfaction and perceived quality of life, we surveyed the 107 fellows trained over the last 25 years in one accredited geriatric program. Of the 88 physicians who consented to participate, 75% devoted at least half of their practice…

A study to assess how much geriatric medicine and gerontology was included in Part I and Part II of the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) examinations, how well students performed in these areas, and whether the amount of content had changed since 1978 is described. (MLW)

Famous Hispanist and physician analyzes the cultural lag threatening our existence, and identifies the role that medicine, ethics, and moral precepts should play in this struggle. (DS)

Describes a needs assessment model that offers practical suggestions to program planners in a multidisciplinary area of inquiry that is relatively new to continuing education in health sciences. (Available from University of California Press, Berkeley, CA 94720.) (Author/CT)

In a mandatory 4-week program, medical students assessed and managed the care of frail elderly with acute medical problems and disabilities. Web-based lectures with pre/posttests and electronic portfolio assessment were included. The experience was intended to promote reflection, interactive learning, and feedback. (Contains 24 references.) (SK)

This descriptive study examined the conceptions and misconceptions students in health professions have regarding older people. The research was conducted in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. The findings revealed that students in health professions, as a whole, demonstrated a high degree of stereotypic misconceptions and poor knowledge about aging and older…