Early Clinical Exposure to Geriatric Psychiatry and Medical Students' Interest in Caring for Older Adults: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
; 27(7): 745-751, 2019 07.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-30954336
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE:
In the next 25 years, the population aged 65 and older will nearly double in many countries, with few new doctors wishing to care for older adults. The authors hypothesize that early clinical exposure to elderly patient care could increase student interest in caring for older adults during their future career.METHODS:
The authors conducted a pragmatic medical education randomized controlled trial (RCT) at the Jewish General Hospital and the Douglas Mental Health Institute, McGill University, in Montreal, Canada. Third-year medical students undergoing their mandatory 16-week half-time clerkship rotation in psychiatry were randomly assigned to the equivalent of 2-4 weeks of full-time exposure to clinical geriatric psychiatry (nâ¯=â¯84).RESULTS:
Being randomly assigned to geriatric psychiatry exposure (nâ¯=â¯44 of 84) was associated with increased "comfort in working with geriatric patients and their families" at 16-week follow-up (59.1% versus 37.5%, χ2 (1)â¯=â¯3.9; pâ¯=â¯0.05). However, there was no significant association found between geriatric psychiatry exposure and change "in interest in caring for older adults," or change in "interest in becoming a geriatric psychiatrist."CONCLUSION:
The results of this pragmatic education RCT suggest that exposing third-year medical students to 2-4 weeks of geriatric psychiatry did not increase their interest to care for older adults or become a geriatric psychiatrist. However, it did increase their comfort level in working with older adults and their families. However, more research is necessary to identify potential interventions that could inspire and increase medical student interest in caring for older adults as part of their future careers.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Colección:
01-internacional
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Estudiantes de Medicina
/
Selección de Profesión
/
Prácticas Clínicas
/
Psiquiatría Geriátrica
Tipo de estudio:
Clinical_trials
/
Qualitative_research
Límite:
Adult
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
País/Región como asunto:
America do norte
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Am J Geriatr Psychiatry
Asunto de la revista:
GERIATRIA
/
PSIQUIATRIA
Año:
2019
Tipo del documento:
Article