Using Comics to Discuss the Geriatric Clerkship Experience

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Health Humanities
• Geriatric Medicine

Background:

• Comics serve as an accessible visual medium for discussing complex topics like aging and death.
• Medical education can benefit from innovative pedagogical approaches to enhance student understanding and empathy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore the utility of a health humanities curriculum incorporating comics for medical students in a geriatrics clerkship.
• To assess the impact of a book club utilizing a graphic memoir on student engagement with geriatric medicine concepts.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a health humanities curriculum within a geriatrics clerkship.
• Partnership between the program director and health science library.
• Facilitation of a book club for medical students to discuss a graphic memoir on caregiving for elderly parents.

Main Results:

• The book club provided a platform for students to discuss their clerkship experiences.
• Students connected their experiences to the caregiver's perspective presented in the graphic memoir.
• The collaboration fostered an innovative educational method combining geriatrics expertise and comics in instruction.

Conclusions:

• Comics and graphic memoirs can be effective tools in medical education for exploring sensitive topics.
• Integrating health humanities into geriatrics clerkships can enhance student learning and empathy.
• Collaborative efforts between educators and librarians can lead to innovative teaching strategies.