Geriatrics Recruitment Resources

at Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Program Overview

In order to assure the highest quality of teaching in geriatrics among physician-training programs across the country, clinician-educators must possess significant pedagogic skills and a mastery of relevant content. The goal of the annual Master Clinician-Educator Program in Geriatrics is to produce expert geriatrics educators within geriatric medicine as well as within other disciplines.

In 2005, its pilot year, the program was offered exclusively to fellows enrolled in Mount Sinai’s geriatrics fellowship program. Starting in the 2005-06 academic year, the program was expanded to include selected Mount Sinai nongeriatrician chief residents and/or junior faculty in addition to geriatrics fellows.

The Master Clinician-Educator Program focuses on fundamental teaching principles, clinical teaching in sites specific to geriatrics, education research skills, and evaluation/assessment techniques that address issues fundamental to the care of older adults.

The specific learning objectives are for participants to:

• become familiar with classic teaching principles
• become aware of venue-specific skills necessary for teaching geriatrics
• acquire skills in curricular development
• design learner- and topic-specific curricula in geriatrics content
• communicate his/her curricular design effectively

Upon satisfactory completion of the program, scholars receive a Certificate in Geriatrics Medical Education from the Department of Geriatrics.

Program Operations

The Master Clinician-Educator Program is offered during the second year of the geriatrics fellowship, during the final year of chief resident training, or over a one-year period for selected junior faculty from other disciplines. Up to four geriatrics fellows and three junior faculty or chief residents are enrolled in the program annually. Chief residents or junior faculty are chosen by a competitive application process that favors those planning to
relocate and practice academic medicine at another institution within the next three to five years. To encourage those who are not geriatrics fellows to participate, the Department of Geriatrics provides mentorship to enable trainees to develop expertise and visibility as geriatrics-oriented educators within their disciplines.

The program consists of a weekly two-hour seminar. Additional hours of independent study and scholarly work are expected between sessions. Seminars include didactic sessions, experiential learning opportunities, other classroom sessions, and application-based work and workshops. The workshops consist of work in progress reports on goals, objectives, curricula, and evaluations based on the scholars’ own work. Scholars are also able to watch others teach in the medical school and reflect on the process and content of that teaching. Four sessions result in educational tools produced by the scholars that can be added to their portfolio of portable, ready-to-use geriatrics training materials.

Program trainees also teach in different clinical arenas where they are observed and receive feedback from faculty. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the Clinician-Educator Program, all scholars learn how to work with a variety of other specialists in order to integrate geriatrics curriculum, content, and teaching throughout institutions and across the continuum of care.

Participants are also required to complete a scholarly project and a publication timeline during their training year. They also develop a mentored career plan to enable them to become faculty who promote and teach geriatrics at other institutions.

Staffing Requirements

Three geriatrics faculty members (one at 20% and two at 10%) and one part-time administrative assistant who serves as program coordinator (at 20%) are needed to staff the program.

Program Costs and Funding Sources

The total annual budget of approximately $150,600 covers staffing costs, fellows’ salaries, food, books, and office expenses.

The program development was funded by the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation via its Consortium for Faculty Development to Advance Geriatric Education (FD~AGE) grants; its ongoing operation is supplemented by funds from the John A. Hartford Foundation Center of Excellence and the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development.

Process and Outcomes Data

44 Scholars have graduated from the program since 2005.

Pre- and post-survey program evaluations are conducted. Prior to the course, 85% of the scholars wanted a career in academics, 5% stated they had experience with curricular development, and 1% reported that they had formal training. After the course was completed, 85% of the scholars felt more comfortable in starting curricular projects.

10% of the participants have presented their work at national meetings and are currently working on their manuscripts.

32% of the scholars are faculty members in geriatrics/palliative care at Mount Sinai, 59% are in geriatrics/palliative care or geriatrics/internal medicine at other institutions, and 9% are faculty in other subspecialties with geriatrics interest.

Implementation Lessons

• This is a developmental process for the scholars, which requires a time commitment from them to work outside the classroom, as well as a time commitment from the teaching faculty to hold individual mentoring meetings.
• An evaluator should be part of the development team.

Available Materials

Tools/Resources

• Precourse survey

Publications

• Learning in Adulthood
  Merriam, SB, Caffarella, RS
  Jossey-Bass. San Francisco 1999
• Curriculum Development for Medical Education
  Kern, DE
  The John Hopkins Press. Baltimore 1998
• ABC of teaching and learning
  Kern DE, Thomas PA, Howard DM, et al
  BMJ series: 2003;326

For More Information

Helen Fernandez, MD
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Adult Development
10th Floor, Annenberg Building
One Gustave L. Levy Place
Box 1070
New York, NY 10029-6574
(212) 241-5561
Helen.Fernandez@mssm.edu

Download the program as a PDF file