Medical Student and Residency Education
Faculty participating in teaching geriatrics to students and residents
come from all over the Miami Valley and are affiliated with local area
hospitals and institutions. Most faculty
in the Department of Geriatrics hold joint faculty appointments in other
clinical departments within the Boonshoft School of Medicine. Some participating
faculty are from the university in related areas, such as the College
of Nursing and Health, the School of Professional Psychology, and the
Departments of Social Work, Sociology, and Biomedical, Industrial and
Human Factors Engineering. All are helping advance the education and
training experiences of students and residents in the area of geriatrics.
Since the late 1960s and early ’70s, leaders throughout this country’s
medical education system have put forth a concentrated effort to prepare
for the aging baby-boomer generation. One such preparation at Wright
State has been the integration of information about specific facets of elderly
care throughout the curriculum for medical students and residents.
Courses
such as human development include segments on human psychology in aging,
dying, and bereavement, but these integrated courses also endeavor to help
the new generation of physicians understand that old age is a continuation
of a person’s life span and not a disease.
An important aspect
we try to teach students is that having an optimism toward life and living
is a very important tool for a patient—no matter the age. Older people
have a lot of life in front of them, and with all people every day is a new
start. There’s always help to provide and there is always wellness
to be achieved. Perception is key in the proper treatment and diagnosis
of ailments in an older person.
Multidisciplinary Approaches
At Wright State, interdepartmental collaboration helps to mainstream
information on caring for this aging population. A
course like neuroscience, for example, teaches specifics about the anatomy
of neurological systems, but also includes segments on depression, anxiety,
and sleep. It also specifically includes what happens to each of those states
as a person gets older. And, in clinical clerkships, ‘aging elements’ are
grafted throughout what students are taught, thereby providing a continuity
of education across the entire life span.
One of the Department of Geriatrics’ educational
goals is to assist each of the other departments in the school define how
it provides care to the older adult. We are asking departments, what
are you already doing? How are you integrating geriatric principles? What
do you think is working? Is there room for improvement? And, how can the
Department of Geriatrics help you better achieve the integration of geriatric
principles and content into the learning process?
Continuing Medical Education
The education of faculty, other health care professionals, and even the
general public on issues relating to the care of the elderly is one of the
integrated goals of the department. Visit
the CME calendar for upcoming CME opportunities.
For more information, contact:
Larry W. Lawhorne, M.D.
Chair and Professor
Department of Geriatrics
Boonshoft School of Medicine
Elizabeth Place, East Medical Building
Fifth Floor, Suite J
627 S. Edwin C. Moses Blvd.
Dayton, OH 45408-1461
Charles Beckley II
Administrative Assistant
charles.beckley@wright.edu
Phone: (937) 331-9167
Fax: (937) 331-9169 | 