Geriatric education: a system approach

This article describes an institutionwide geriatric educational initiative (called Geriatrics Awareness Month) that provided didactic and formal experiential learning designed for health professionals. From an educational perspective, to learn geriatrics requires systems thinking, and, to learn systems thinking, geriatrics provides an excellent clinical context. The authors evaluated the didactic and experiential aspects of Geriatric Awareness Month. For attendees of didactic sessions, the availability of pocket-sized educational materials was deemed most valuable. Despite busy schedules, house staff were able to make a change in their practice and study the effect of this change.