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UK medical teaching about ageing is improving but there is still work to be done: the Second National Survey of Undergraduate Teaching in Ageing and Geriatric Medicine

Gordon, Adam Lee; Blundell, Adrian; Dhesi, Jugdeep K.; Forrester-Paton, Calum; Forrester-Paton, Jayne; Mitchell, Hannah K.; Bracewell, Nicola; Mjojo, Jocelyn; Masud, Tahir; Gladman, John R.F.

Authors

ADAM GORDON Adam.Gordon@nottingham.ac.uk
Professor of The Care of Older People

Adrian Blundell

Jugdeep K. Dhesi

Calum Forrester-Paton

Jayne Forrester-Paton

Hannah K. Mitchell

Nicola Bracewell

Jocelyn Mjojo

Tahir Masud

John R.F. Gladman



Abstract

Introduction: in 2008, a UK national survey of undergraduate teaching about ageing and geriatric medicine identified deficiencies, including failure to adequately teach about elder abuse, pressure ulcers and bio- and social gerontology. We repeated the survey in 2013 to consider whether the situation had improved.

Method: the deans of all 31 UK medical schools were invited to nominate a respondent with an overview of their undergraduate curriculum. Nominees were invited by email and letter to complete an online questionnaire quantifying topics taught, type of teaching and assessment undertaken, and the amount of time spent on teaching.

Results: one school only taught pre-clinical medicine and declined to participate. Of the 30 remaining schools, 20 responded and 19 provided analysable data. The majority of the schools (95–100%) provided teaching in delirium, dementia, stroke, falls, osteoporosis, extra-pyramidal disorders, polypharmacy, incontinence, ethics and mental capacity. Only 68% of the schools taught about elder abuse. Thirty-seven per cent taught a recognised classification of the domains of health used in Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA). The median (range) total time spent on teaching in ageing and geriatric medicine was 55.5 (26–192) h. There was less reliance on informal teaching and improved assessment:teaching ratios compared with the 2008 survey.

Conclusions: there was an improvement in teaching and assessment of learning outcomes in ageing and geriatric medicine for UK undergraduates between 2008 and 2013. However, further work is needed to increase the amount of teaching time devoted to ageing and to improve teaching around elder abuse and the domains of health used in CGA.

Citation

Gordon, A. L., Blundell, A., Dhesi, J. K., Forrester-Paton, C., Forrester-Paton, J., Mitchell, H. K., …Gladman, J. R. (2014). UK medical teaching about ageing is improving but there is still work to be done: the Second National Survey of Undergraduate Teaching in Ageing and Geriatric Medicine. Age and Ageing, 43(2), 293-297. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/aft207

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Nov 8, 2015
Online Publication Date Dec 29, 2013
Publication Date Mar 1, 2014
Deposit Date Jul 16, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Age and Ageing
Print ISSN 0002-0729
Electronic ISSN 1468-2834
Publisher Oxford University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 43
Issue 2
Pages 293-297
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/aft207
Keywords Undergraduate medical education; geriatrics; medical education; curriculum; elder abuse; older people
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1100793
Publisher URL https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/43/2/293/11496
PMID 24375323

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