Introducing geriatric health in medical training in Ajman, United Arab Emirates: A co-curricular approach

Medical students' knowledge and understanding of the elderly will affect the quality of care to the rising population of older adults which points to a need to identify geriatric health training methods appropriate for the region and curriculum. Therefore the study assessed the effect of a co- curricular introductory workshop on knowledge regarding geriatric health and attitude towards the elderly among fourth year medical students in a medical university

A quasi-experimental before-after study, with control was conducted at Gulf Medical College among 60 medical students from discipline-based curriculum in year IV during May-June 2010 of whom 16 had opted (attendees) to undergo the introductory course, a five day workshop of 10 hours duration. Pre- and post-testing used self-administered questionnaires for demographic variables: age, gender, nationality, close contact with older people; a quiz on old people's health, and Kogan's Old People Scale (KOPS) for attitude. The difference in scores on quiz and KOPS were compared for the attendees and 26 non-attendees who participated in both pre and post testing.

The attendees group had 38% male and 62% female participants and the non-attendees group had 21% and 79% respectively. The groups were not significantly different in age, sex, nationality and close contact with the elderly. The scores on the quiz and KOPS showed no statistically significant difference between the two groups before or after the workshop. Almost all the participants evaluated the workshop very positively especially the interaction with healthy elderly and inmates of old people's home.

A 10-hour introductory co-curricular workshop made no significant change in the knowledge on geriatric health or attitude of fourth year medical students though they reported it as a very enriching experience. A reflective report may have been a better assessment tool and the impact on their clinical practice cannot be predicted.