Eight members of the Aquifer Consortium have published significant research in Academic Medicine that updates the essential competencies for geriatrics education in medical schools. The article, “Updated Geriatrics Competencies for Graduating Medical Students: Training Physicians to Provide Age-Friendly Care,” addresses a critical need in medical education as the U.S. population continues to age.
The research team, led by Andrea Wershof Schwartz and including Mandi Sehgal, Catherine Dawson, Lisa Granville, Becky Powers, Amit Shah, Amy Sullivan, and Rosanne Leipzig, developed 27 updated competencies organized around the Geriatrics 5Ms framework: Mind, Mobility, Medications, Multicomplexity, and What Matters Most.
The timing of this work is particularly relevant. With older adults approaching 20% of the U.S. population and fewer than 7,000 practicing geriatricians nationwide, it’s essential that all graduating medical students are prepared to provide quality care for older patients, regardless of their specialty.
The updated competencies reflect current priorities in healthcare, including increased focus on health equity, frailty, deprescribing, and patient priorities. The competencies achieved strong consensus, with agreement rates ranging from 93% to 100% among geriatrics experts and 87.5% to 100% among education deans.
This research aligns with Aquifer’s mission to deliver the best healthcare education through collaborative development and innovative teaching methods. The updated competencies provide a framework that will help ensure graduating medical students are prepared to deliver age-friendly care from their first day of internship.
The full article is available in the December 2024 issue of Academic Medicine. See our Aquifer Geriatrics page to learn about our cases and more.
