A scoping review of the changing landscape of geriatric medicine in undergraduate medical education: curricula, topics and teaching methods.
Tahir Masud, Giulia Ogliari, Eleanor Lunt, Adrian Blundell, Adam Lee Gordon, Regina Roller-Wirnsberger, Michael Vassallo, Daniela Mari, Marina Kotsani, Katrin Singler, Roman Romero-Ortuno, Alfonso J Cruz-Jentoft, Andreas E Stuck
Author Information
Tahir Masud: Department of Health Care for Older People (HCOP), Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby Road, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, Nottinghamshire, UK. ORCID
Giulia Ogliari: Department of Health Care for Older People (HCOP), Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby Road, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, Nottinghamshire, UK. giulia.ogliari@virgilio.it. ORCID
Eleanor Lunt: Department of Health Care for Older People (HCOP), Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby Road, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, Nottinghamshire, UK. ORCID
Adrian Blundell: Department of Health Care for Older People (HCOP), Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Derby Road, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, Nottinghamshire, UK. ORCID
Adam Lee Gordon: University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. ORCID
Regina Roller-Wirnsberger: Department of Internal Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 15, 8036, Graz, Austria. ORCID
Michael Vassallo: University Hospitals Dorset, Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Castle Lane East, Bournemouth, BH7 7DW, UK. ORCID
Daniela Mari: Laboratory of Geriatric and Oncologic Neuroendocrinology Research, IRCCS Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milan, Italy. ORCID
Marina Kotsani: Universit�� de Lorraine, CHRU-Nancy, P��le "Maladies du Vieillissement, G��rontologie et Soins Palliatifs", 54000, Nancy, France. ORCID
Katrin Singler: Department of Geriatric Medicine, Klinikum N��rnberg, Paracelsus Medical University N��rnberg, N��rnberg, Germany. ORCID
Roman Romero-Ortuno: Discipline of Medical Gerontology, School of Medicine, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. ORCID
Alfonso J Cruz-Jentoft: Hospital Universitario Ram��n y Cajal (IRYCIS), Madrid, Spain. ORCID
Andreas E Stuck: Department of Geriatrics, University of Bern, 3010, Bern, Switzerland. ORCID
PURPOSE: The world's population is ageing. Therefore, every doctor should receive geriatric medicine training during their undergraduate education. This review aims to summarise recent developments in geriatric medicine that will potentially inform developments and updating of undergraduate medical curricula for geriatric content. METHODS: We systematically searched the electronic databases Ovid Medline, Ovid Embase and Pubmed, from 1st January 2009 to 18th May 2021. We included studies related to (1) undergraduate medical students and (2) geriatric medicine or ageing or older adults and (3) curriculum or curriculum topics or learning objectives or competencies or teaching methods or students' attitudes and (4) published in a scientific journal. No language restrictions were applied. RESULTS: We identified 2503 records and assessed the full texts of 393 records for eligibility with 367 records included in the thematic analysis. Six major themes emerged: curriculum, topics, teaching methods, teaching settings, medical students' skills and medical students' attitudes. New curricula focussed on minimum Geriatrics Competencies, Geriatric Psychiatry and Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment; vertical integration of Geriatric Medicine into the curriculum has been advocated. Emerging or evolving topics included delirium, pharmacotherapeutics, healthy ageing and health promotion, and Telemedicine. Teaching methods emphasised interprofessional education, senior mentor programmes and intergenerational contact, student journaling and reflective writing, simulation, clinical placements and e-learning. Nursing homes featured among new teaching settings. Communication skills, empathy and professionalism were highlighted as essential skills for interacting with older adults. CONCLUSION: We recommend that future undergraduate medical curricula in Geriatric Medicine should take into account recent developments described in this paper. In addition to including newly emerged topics and advances in existing topics, different teaching settings and methods should also be considered. Employing vertical integration throughout the undergraduate course can usefully supplement learning achieved in a dedicated Geriatric Medicine undergraduate course. Interprofessional education can improve understanding of the roles of other professionals and improve team-working skills. A focus on improving communication skills and empathy should particularly enable better interaction with older patients. Embedding expected levels of Geriatric competencies should ensure that medical students have acquired the skills necessary to effectively treat older patients.
