New horizons in undergraduate geriatric medicine education.

Current projections show that between 2000 and 2050, increasing proportions of older individuals will be cared for by a smaller number of healthcare workers, which will exacerbate the existing challenges faced by those who support this patient demographic. This review of a collection of Age and Ageing papers on the topic in the past 10 years explores (1) what best practice geriatrics education is and (2) how careers in geriatrics could be made more appealing to improve recruitment and retention. Based on these deeper understandings, we consider, as clinician educators, how to close the gap both pragmatically and theoretically.

Highlighting the goals for Parkinson's care: commentary on NICE Guidelines for Parkinson's in Adults (NG71).

Parkinson's disease is a chronic multi-system disease that can cause motor and non-motor symptoms, cognitive changes and variably effective medications. Optimal management of the condition requires a multi-disciplinary team of healthcare professionals to work closely with the patient and their carers. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published updated guidelines on managing Parkinson's disease in adults in 2017.

200 Years of Parkinson's disease: what have we learnt from James Parkinson?

2017 marks 200 years since James Parkinson's published his 'Essay on the Shaking Palsy'. Although now most famous for describing the condition that came to bear his name, Parkinson had a wide range of interests and his influence spread beyond medicine. In this review, we provide a biography of James Parkinson's remarkable life.

Twelve tips for teaching about patients with cognitive impairment.

The global population is ageing and consequently cognitive problems are increasingly prevalent. To ensure that the healthcare needs of this complex group are met, healthcare professionals must receive adequate training in this field. There are, however, a variety of reasons why this is not currently being achieved, including, but not limited to: ethical and logistical issues relating to the delivery of educational experiences involving cognitively impaired patients; a failure of curricula to keep pace with the changing demographic; societal and institutional ageism; and the inherent complexity of the conditions.

The growing challenge of major trauma in older people: a role for comprehensive geriatric assessment?

In this commentary article, we describe the impact that an ageing population is having on the nature of major trauma seen in emergency departments. The proportion of major trauma victims who are older people is rapidly increasing and a fall from standing is now the most common mechanism of injury in major trauma. Potential barriers to effective care of this patient group are highlighted, including: a lack of consensus regarding triage criteria; potentially misleading physiological parameters within triage criteria; non-linear patient presentations and diagnostic nihilism.

Why geriatric medicine? A survey of UK specialist trainees in geriatric medicine.

Background: there is concern that there are insufficient numbers of geriatricians to meet the needs of the ageing population. A 2005 survey described factors that influenced why UK geriatricians had chosen to specialise in the field-in the decade since, UK postgraduate training has undergone a fundamental restructure.

Objective: to explore whether the reasons for choosing a career in geriatric medicine in the UK had changed over time, with the goal of using this knowledge to inform recruitment and training initiatives.

The Future Hospital: a blueprint for effective delirium care.

Delirium remains the most common hospital complication. Occurrence rates are set to rise as the population ages and, despite being preventable and treatable, delirium continues to be under-recognised. Given the adverse outcomes associated with delirium and the considerable financial burden, patients with delirium must be considered 'core business' for 21st century hospitals.

Unsupervised home monitoring of Parkinson's disease motor symptoms using body-worn accelerometers.

Introduction: Current PD assessment methods have inherent limitations. There is need for an objective method to assist clinical decisions and to facilitate evaluation of treatments. Accelerometers, and analysis using artificial neural networks (ANN), have shown potential as a method of motor symptom evaluation.

The development and evaluation of mini-GEMs - short, focused, online e-learning videos in geriatric medicine.

Mini Geriatric E-Learning Modules (Mini-GEMs) are short, focused, e-learning videos on geriatric medicine topics, hosted on YouTube, which are targeted at junior doctors working with older people. This study aimed to explore how these resources are accessed and used. The authors analyzed the viewing data from 22 videos published over the first 18 months of the Mini-GEM project.

Training Tomorrow's Doctors to Safeguard the Patients of Today: Using Medical Student Simulation Training to Explore Barriers to Recognition of Elder Abuse.

In recognition of the fact that elder abuse is a global problem that doctors underrecognize and underreport, a simulation training session for undergraduate medical students was developed. The primary objective of this qualitative study was to examine barriers to and drivers of medical students making a diagnosis of elder abuse in simulated practice, with the goal of refining teaching methods and informing future teaching sessions for other clinical teachers. Third-year medical students (Newcastle University, United Kingdom) undertook a simulation scenario with a high-fidelity mannequin representing an elder abuse victim.

'The poor historian': Heart sink? Or time for a re-think?

In this commentary article, the oft-heard expression, 'the poor historian', will be discussed. We will consider who the poor historian is and reflect on medical training to speculate how and why the expression has entered the medical lexicon. The potential negative impact of this terminology on patients and junior learners will be considered and strategies for re-framing this concept, for both clinical teachers and learners, will be presented.

Body-Worn Sensors in Parkinson's Disease: Evaluating Their Acceptability to Patients.

Background: Remote monitoring of symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD) using body-worn sensors would assist treatment decisions and evaluation of new treatments. To date, a rigorous, systematic evaluation of the acceptability of body-worn sensors in PD has not been undertaken.

Materials And Methods: Thirty-four participants wore bilateral wrist-worn sensors for 4 h in a research facility and then for 1 week at home.

Towards an understanding of why undergraduate teaching about delirium does not guarantee gold-standard practice--results from a UK national survey.

Background: delirium is common and serious, yet frequently missed by medical staff. It is known that delirium is widely taught and examined in UK medical schools; however, what is taught, and how such teaching is delivered, remains unknown. The primary aim of this study was to determine the content of UK undergraduate medical education about delirium and establish how it is delivered.

Geriatric medicine workforce planning: a giant geriatric problem or has the tide turned?

The UK's population is ageing and an adequately staffed geriatric medicine workforce is essential for high quality care. We evaluated the current and future geriatric medicine workforce, drawing on data relating to the UK population, current geriatric medicine consultants and trainees, recruitment into the specialty and trainee career progression. Data were derived from various sources, including the British Geriatrics Society Education and Training Committee biannual survey of training posts.

A new age approach to an age old problem: using simulation to teach geriatric medicine to medical students.

Background: simulation-based teaching is increasingly used in medical education, but no studies have evaluated its impact on learning in geriatric medicine. We developed and delivered a simulation teaching session on delirium, falls, elder abuse and breaking bad news. Simulation mannequins, professional role-players and simulated clinical documentation were all incorporated into scenarios.