Elder Specialists: Psychosocial Aspects of Medical Education in Geriatric Care |
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| Authors: | Nancy McCann-Stone Sherry B Robinson Gary Rull Richard B Rosher |
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| Institution: | 1. Office of Education and Curriculum, Department of Medical Education , Southern Illinois University School of Medicine , Springfield, Illinois, USA nmccannstone@siumed.edu;3. Division of Geriatrics, Department of Internal Medicine , Southern Illinois University School of Medicine , Springfield, Illinois, USA;4. Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine , Southern Illinois University School of Medicine , Springfield, Illinois, USA |
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| Abstract: | This paper describes an Elder Specialist Program developed by one school of medicine to sensitize medical students to geriatric psychosocial issues. Elder Specialists participate in panel discussions as part of each geriatric session. As an alternative to traditional senior mentoring programs, the Elder Specialist Program provides all students a consistent experience and enlightens students to the heterogeneity of the older adult population. Cost of the Elder Specialist Program is minimal. Without exception, the Elder Specialist component of each geriatric session has been rated by students as the highest. Measures of attitudes toward older adults are showing a positive trend. |
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