Geriatrics

Education & Training – Medical Students

4th Year Clerkship in Geriatrics/Home Medical Care

The required geriatrics rotation is designed to give fourth year medical students exposure first-hand to the needs of community-dwelling older adults. During this rotation, students will have the unique opportunity to go out on house calls with a physician or nurse preceptor. Additional experiences include going to community sites such as an adult day health center and nursing homes, making an independent home visit, and participating in standardized patient encounters. Students will attend daily lectures, write an evidence-based discussion of a patient management problem, and participate in computer based case discussions.  Both physician and nurse preceptors will evaluate performance.

The objectives of the rotation include:

• Learning about common geriatric syndromes;
  
  
• Developing skills in using functional assessment tools in the evaluation of older adults;
  
  
• Working with an interdisciplinary team including nurses, social workers and community health care providers to develop care plans; and
  
  
• Learning about the possibilities and challenges of providing medical care for elderly patients living in the community.

With the approval of the clerkship director, BU students may fulfill their graduation requirement for Geriatrics with an "away rotation" that offers a similar experience in community-based geriatrics.

Clerkship Syllabus (http://www.bmc.org/geriatrics/BUSMGeriSyllabus.pdf)
Away-Rotation Guidelines
Guidelines for non-BUSM students - Geriatrics rotation 
(http://www.bumc.bu.edu/busm-reg/catalogue/medicine-subspecialties/)

Contact: Jill Whitney at 617.638.6155 or Jill.Whitney@bmc.org.