Teaching medicine interns minimum geriatrics competencies within a "4 + 2" schedule.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Geriatric Medicine
• Internal Medicine Residency Training

Background:

• The
• X+Y
• residency schedule increases ambulatory training, offering more opportunities to teach geriatrics.
• Existing curricula may not adequately cover essential geriatric competencies for internal medicine (IM) and family medicine (FM) residents.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the implementation and impact of a longitudinal geriatrics rotation embedded within an IM residency program's
• 4+2
• schedule.
• To assess the curriculum's effectiveness in teaching IM/FM minimum geriatrics competencies (MGC).

Main Methods:

• A longitudinal geriatrics rotation was integrated into a
• 4+2
• IM residency schedule.
• Core didactic seminars were revamped to align with MGC, focusing on medication management, cognitive health, complex chronic illnesses, end-of-life care, and ambulatory care.
• Interns completed pre- and post-rotation surveys assessing confidence in MGC using a 5-point Likert scale.

Main Results:

• Interns (N=22) reported statistically significant improvements in confidence across all assessed MGC items.
• Greatest confidence gains were observed in functional assessment, geriatric pharmacotherapy, and identifying eligibility for home-based services.
• Interns rated the geriatrics curriculum as more beneficial for skill enhancement than other rotations and conferences.

Conclusions:

• A longitudinal geriatrics curriculum within a
• 4+2
• schedule can be effectively implemented and adapted by other programs.
• Aligning curriculum with MGC demonstrably improved intern confidence in key geriatric care skills.