Assessing knowledge base on geriatric competencies for emergency medicine residents

Area of Science:

• Emergency Medicine
• Geriatric Care
• Medical Education

Background:

• Older adults constitute over 25% of emergency department visits.
• Effective emergency care for older adults requires specialized knowledge due to unique physiology and presentation.
• Many emergency medicine residencies lack comprehensive geriatric care curricula.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of a 2-hour didactic intervention based on Geriatric Emergency Medicine Competencies (GEMC).
• To determine if the intervention significantly improves resident knowledge across 7 key geriatric domains.

Main Methods:

• A validated 29-question test was administered to 301 residents across six emergency medicine programs before and after the intervention.
• Scores were analyzed individually and by domain using a paired t-test.
• The intervention consisted of a GEMC-focused lecture delivered in 2009.

Main Results:

• The educational intervention significantly improved scores in all 7 GEMC domains, with improvements ranging from 13.5% to 34.6% (p<0.001).
• Overall knowledge scores increased by 23% (37.8% pre-intervention to 60.8% post-intervention; P<0.001).
• Knowledge gains showed a graded increase by postgraduate year, with the most significant improvement observed in PGY3 residents.

Conclusions:

• A brief GEMC didactic intervention effectively enhanced emergency medicine resident knowledge of critical geriatric topics.
• GEMC-based lectures are a high-yield strategy for improving geriatric emergency care training.
• Formal GEMC curriculum integration is recommended for training emergency medicine residents to manage an aging population.