Undergraduate education in geriatric medicine

Abstract

In the developed, as well as developing countries, there is an immediate challenge to ensure an adequate supply of health professionals trained in providing care for older people to meet the needs of increasing numbers. Currently 20% of the population of the United Kingdom (UK) is over 60 – 12 million people. By 2031 this proportion will be nearly a third – 18.6 million people. The largest increases are anticipated among the over-85 age group, from 0.8 million in 1987 to 1.4 million in 2025. In Europe the number of people aged over 80 years will double within the next 25 to 30 years. It is estimated that there will be more than 1.2 billion elderly people in the world by the year 2025 – three-quarters of them living in the developing countries.

Evaluation of a blended learning model in geriatric medicine: A successful learning experience for medical students

“…Unfortunately, this increase in demand for medical care has not been followed by a rise in the number of medical schools implementing teaching programs in geriatric medicine . As a result, medical students worldwide are graduating without appropriate exposure to the principles of geriatric medicine and with only a very limited understanding of the particularities of geriatric patients, which include challenging characteristics such as significant functional limitations, multiple acute and chronic medical diagnoses and a need for a complex combination of medical and social support services across hospital, community, rehabilitation and long‐term care settings .…”