The Senior Mentor Program at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine

Abstract

This paper describes development, implementation, and evaluation strategies of a longitudinal geriatric curriculum, the Senior Mentor Program (SMP). The rationale for exposing undergraduate medical students to healthy, community-dwelling older adults is to use the relationship and activities as vehicles for improving knowledge of aging and providing students experience with aging as a stage and process. The University of South Carolina School of Medicine's major aim in geriatrics is to prepare students to become skilled physicians in care of older adults. The SMP is embedded into the curriculum. The program introduced medical students to healthy older adults, presented selected health care issues in this population, integrated material early in the curriculum, acquainted students with longitudinal patient care, and introduced students to older adults' living arrangements. The SMP is an effective means of infusing geriatric content into the medical school curriculum and positively affects mentors' and students' attitudes toward each other. This has implications for medical and professional schools, such as nursing, social work, and physical therapy.

Medical student education program in Alzheimer’s disease: The PAIRS Program

“…As an example, senior mentor programs introduce students to healthy community-based elders to help students view aging as a multidimensional process [22]. Such programs have enhanced students’ attitudes towards elders [23,24], improved students’ communication skills [23], and taught students the value of interdisciplinary care [24]. Our findings suggest that the PAIRS Program and The Buddy Program TM expand the fundamentals of existing mentor programs with a unique focus on needs of older adults with cognitive impairment.…”

An Assisted Living Facility Curriculum to Introduce Geriatrics to First-Year Medical Students

“…Since 2000, several medical schools have implemented programs in which medical students partner with older adults in the community to learn about their health issues and their lives (Bates, Cohan, Bragg, & Bedinghaus, 2006;Bernard, McAuley, Belzer, & Neal, 2003;Fitzpatrick, Musser, Mosqueda, Boker, & Prislin, 2006;Roberts, Richeson, Thornhill, Corwin, & Eleazer, 2006). These programs introduce geriatric medicine early in medical school and have fostered more positive attitudes among medical students toward older adults (Eleazer et al, 2009).…”

Aging Couple Across the Curriculum

“…Each meeting between student and senior mentor is guided by educational objectives. Some colleges also incorporate didactic sessions and reflection sessions (Bates, Cohan, Bragg, & Bedinghaus, 2006;Eleazer, Wieland, Roberts, Richeson, & Thornhill, 2006;Fitzpatrick, Musser, Mosqueda, Boker, & Prislin, 2006;Kantor & Myers, 2006;Roberts, Richeson, Thornhill, Corwin, & Eleazer, 2006;Sikora, 2006;Tomkowiak & Gunderson, 2004). These programs generally report positive results.…”

“…Students found the relationships rewarding, appreciated the elder's perspective, and had a greater understanding of successful aging (Bates et al, 2006;Heflin, 2006;Hoffman, Gray, Hosokawa, & Zweig, 2006). Some schools have reported improvement in attitudes, especially in an understanding of the importance of maintenance of functional status (Fitzpatrick et al, 2006;Kantor & Myers, 2006;Roberts et al, 2006). Some of the reported challenges inherent in mentoring programs include (1) considerable faculty and staff time required to manage the logistics of the program; (2) the challenge to maintain a pool of seniors for the 4-year experiences; and (3) lack of exposure to the heterogeneity of the older population as students primarily interacted with one elder Heflin, 2006;Kantor & Myers, 2006;T.…”