Impact of geriatrics elective courses at three colleges of pharmacy: Attitudes toward aging and eldercare.

INTRODUCTION: One in five Americans will be 65 years and older by 2030. Training student pharmacists to provide quality eldercare as healthcare professionals is essential. The objective of the study was to assess pharmacy students' attitudes toward aging and eldercare before and after a geriatrics-focused elective course. METHODS: The University of Arizona Aging and Health Care (UA AHC) survey was modified for pharmacy and administered pre and post to students enrolled in a geriatrics elective course at three United States (US) colleges of pharmacy. Pre and post means were calculated to examine attitudinal changes after course participation. Factor analysis was performed to examine construct validity by identifying the dimensions being measured. RESULTS: Sixteen of 37 questions differed significantly from pre-course to post-course demonstrating improved attitudes after course participation. Students also reported an awareness of how older adults are viewed and treated. Factor analysis identified seven factors with a range of behaviors, skills, training, and attitudes perceived to be important in geriatric care. Two factors, importance of learning about geriatric care and experience/comfort with older adults, showed significant changes confirming positive impact of the course. CONCLUSIONS: Geriatrics-focused elective courses in three colleges of pharmacy had a positive impact on students' perceived importance of learning about geriatric care and experience/comfort with elders. Further research to adapt and validate the UA AHC survey to pharmacy education is needed. The identification of the skills and attitudes necessary to meet the growing needs of older adults is necessary for pharmacy curriculum implementation and practice.

Healthy aging rounds: using healthy-aging mentors to teach medical students about physical activity and social support assessment, interviewing, and prescription.

Medical students underestimate the health and functional status of community-dwelling older adults and have little experience in health promotion interviewing or prescribing physical activity. The goal was to provide third-year University of Arizona medical students with an opportunity to gain a broader and evidence-based understanding of healthy aging, with specific focus on physical activity and social engagement. Students engaged in one-on-one conversations with healthy older adult mentors and practiced assessment, interviewing and prescription counseling for physical activity and social support. This 2-hour mandatory interactive educational offering improved student attitudes and knowledge about healthy aging and provided hands-on health promotion counseling experience.

Hiking on the geriatrics rotation.

OBJECTIVES: Most geriatrics training emphasizes chronically ill, dying, demented, or institutionalized patients. While some programs link trainees to healthy older adults in interview settings, we developed an experience that exposes trainees to vigorously active seniors with the objective of demonstrating the physical capabilities of older adults. METHODS: We sent residents with a senior group (age 60s--80s) from a hiking club on a moderately difficult (1,700-foot climb) hike. Later, residents were asked if the experience was worthwhile and if so, what they learned. RESULTS: All residents reported the experience worthwhile. Most reported a new perception of older adults' physical capabilities. CONCLUSIONS: Exposing residents to active older adults may provide residents with new perceptions of healthy aging.

Patients as teachers, medical students as filmmakers: the video slam, a pilot study.

In 2006-2007 and 2007-2008, the authors pilot-tested a filmmaking project, (medical students filmed patients) to assess the project's potential to teach about the challenges of living with serious chronic illness. Two years of second-year medical students (N = 32) from The University of Arizona, working in groups of two or three, were paired with patients and filmed multiple home visits during eight months. Students edited their films to 7 to 10 minutes and added transitions, titles, and music. A mixed audience of students and faculty viewed the resulting 12 films in a "Video Slam." Faculty also used the films in the formal curriculum to illustrate teaching points related to chronic illness. Student filmmakers, on average, made 4.4 visits, collected 5.6 hours of film, and edited for 26.6 hours. Students reported that the project affected what they planned to cover in clinic visits, increased their plans to involve patients in care, enhanced their appreciation for patient-centered care, improved their knowledge of community resources, improved their understanding of allied health professionals' roles, and taught them about patients' innovative adaptations. Overall, students rated the project highly for its impact on their education (mean = 4.52 of 5). Student and faculty viewers of the films (N = 74) found the films compelling (mean = 4.95 of 5) and informative (mean = 4.93 of 5). The authors encountered the ethical dilemmas of deciding who controls the patients' recorded stories and navigating between patient anonymity/confidentiality and allowing patients to use their stories to teach.

ACGME Outcomes Project: selling our expertise.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Outcomes Project emphasizes competency outcome assessment by residency programs. Many residency programs are unprepared to undertake valid competency assessments. Family medicine educators, however, often have substantial experience in competency-based evaluation. We developed a program, with more than 240,000 US dollars of funding from our dean's office, through which our family medicine educational unit provided support to more than 60 residency programs in various specialties. This program assisted directors of these 60 programs to understand the ACGME competency domains, develop measurable competencies for their discipline, and develop evaluation tools to assess those competencies. We were thus able to "sell" our expertise to other programs and generate income for our department.